The Myanmar Army on Tuesday said seven soldiers have been sentenced to “10 years in prison with hard labour in a remote area” for being involved in the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslims in September.

“Four officers were denounced and permanently dismissed from the military and sentenced to 10 years with hard labour at a prison in a remote area,” said the military, according to Reuters. “Three soldiers of other rank were demoted to the rank of ‘private’, permanently dismissed from the military and sentenced to 10 years with hard labour at a prison in a remote area.”

The Rohingya men were hacked to death and buried in a mass grave in Inn Din village. The military said trials were on against the police and civilians “involved in the crime”.

Earlier, the Army had claimed that the Rohingya men were “terrorists”. But, it never presented any evidence to support the allegation. Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi welcomed the Army’s decision as a “positive step”, reported AFP.

Lakhs of Rohingya Muslims have fled from Rakhine state of Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh since August 2017, after security forces began a violent crackdown against the community. The United Nations and the United States have called it “ethnic cleansing”, and Suu Kyi has faced widespread criticism for not doing enough to stop the persecution.