The trial of 33 African Union (AU) peacekeepers who mutinied began on Thursday in a military court in Burundi.  The accused soldiers were stationed in Somalia when they disobeyed orders; took guns and defied the instructions of military superiors. One of the accused junior soldiers claimed that they were reacting to army commanders who owed each soldier USD 6000 in salary. Only 23 of the accused were present in court when military prosecutor, Lieutenant-Colonel Jean Claude Nzigamasabo read out charges for the incident that took place on January 9th 2009. 5 of the accused soldiers have since deserted the army.

Burundi and Uganda are the only countries to have deployed troops to Somalia for the AU peacekeeping mission.