PESHAWAR: Four 'terrorists' were executed at the Kohat Central Jail, sources said Tuesday morning.

Chief Of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif had signed the black warrants of the four men convicted by military courts, namely Noor Saeed alias Hafiz Sahib, Murad Khan, Inayatullah and Israruddin alias Abu Lais, earlier this month.

An ISPR statement issued at the time said the men were convicted for "slaughtering, suicide bombing, abduction for ransom and funding terrorists organisations".

Earlier this month, four terrorists involved in the Army Public School attack were hanged at a civil jail here.

Military courts

In the wake of the APS carnage, military courts were set up for trying terrorists under amendments made to the Constitution and the Army Act.

Political parties had unanimously agreed over the issue of setting up military courts to tackle terrorism cases in the country following the gruesome attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar in December 2014, following which the Parliament passed the 21st constitutional amendment in Jan 2015 to set up the said courts.

President Mamnoon Hussain had also promulgated an ordinance further revising the recently amended Army Act to ostensibly aid the functioning of military courts by allowing for trials in camera, i.e without the presence of the public or the media, and over video link if necessary.

The Supreme Court in a majority ruling upheld the establishment of military courts in Pakistan.

Petitions challenging the 21st amendment were dismissed in August this year in a majority 11-6 vote of the 17-member SC bench. Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk and Justice Dost Muhammad announced the verdict.

In a 14-3 majority vote, petitions challenging the 18th amendment were also dismissed by the bench. Judges provided seven opinions and two additional notes on the ruling.

In its editorials, Dawn has criticised the establishment of military courts for "simply not being compatible with a constitutional democracy."

Editorial: Military ‘justice’