By Kyaw Ye Lynn

YANGON, Myanmar

Seven Myanmar soldiers have been sentenced to 10 years each for their involvement in the massacre of 10 Rohingya Muslim men in western Rakhine state early September last year, Myanmar army said Wednesday.

The military, which has been accused of carrying out ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya Muslims, said in a statement that seven soldiers, including four officers, participated along with police and Buddhist villagers in the killings in the remote village of Inn Din in Rakhine’s northern Maungdaw area.

"Four officers were purged from the military and given 10-year prison sentence with hard labor in a criminal prison," said the military, adding that a further three soldiers were also sacked from the military and sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment with hard labor.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo with Reuters news agency who have been investigating the massacre were arrested in December. The two journalists are still being held in prison for allegedly attempting to get secret documents from police.

On Wednesday, a district court in Myanmar’s former capital Yangon rejected an application to dismiss the case against the journalists.

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

Since Aug. 25, 2017, some 750,000 refugees, mostly children and women, fled Myanmar when Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community, according to the UN. At least 9,000 Rohingya were killed in Rakhine state from Aug. 25 to Sept. 24, according to Doctors Without Borders.

In a report published on Dec. 12, the global humanitarian organization said that the deaths of 71.7 percent or 6,700 Rohingya were caused by violence. They include 730 children below the age of 5.

The UN has documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by security personnel. In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.