The International Criminal Court (ICC) has sentenced Congolese warlord Germain Katanga to 12 years in jail for arming an ethnic militia that carried out a "particularly cruel" 2003 village massacre.

Katanga, 36, was convicted in March of war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as murder and pillaging for his role in the attack on Bogoro village in the volatile eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on February 24, 2003.

The court found that he armed fighters of the Patriotic Resistance Forces in Ituri (FRPI), who carried out the village massacre in which more than 200 people died.

Presiding Judge Bruno Cotte said the seven years Katanga has already spent in detention will be deducted from the 12-year sentence.

"The scars of the fighting that occurred that day are still be seen today," Judge Cotte said.

The judge said the use of machetes in the attack was "particularly cruel and caused extreme suffering".

The ICC cleared Katanga of separate charges of rape, sexual slavery and using child soldiers.

Katanga's lawyers have appealed his conviction and now have another 30 days to appeal the sentencing.

The decision on the conviction's appeal is still pending.

The sentencing is court's second since opening its doors in 2003, with another Congolese warlord and Katanga's one-time adversary Thomas Lubanga sentenced to 14 years in July 2012.

AFP