ISLAMABAD: A military court has awarded death sentences to four suspected terrorists belonging to the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and Al Qaeda for the attack on Karachi airport and assassination of a senior counterterrorism official.

The death sentences have been endorsed by Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa.

“Today Chief of Army Staff confirmed death sentences awarded to another 4 hardcore terrorists, who were involved in heinous offences related to terrorism, including killing of innocent civilians, officials of Law Enforcement Agencies and Airport Security Force,” an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said.

These were the first death sentences to be approved by Gen Bajwa since he took over the command of the army last Tuesday.

Earlier, Gen Bajwa called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and, according to a statement issued by the PM Office, national security issues were discussed during the meeting.

The military courts that would complete their constitutionally mandated term next month have so far awarded death sentences to 140 terrorists, besides sentencing 96 others to life. Twelve convicts have been executed.

The ISPR said that the four convicts, whose death sentences have been endorsed, were involved in attacks on Karachi airport, CID building Karachi, the ISI office at Sukkur, and police officers Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam and Farooq Awan. They were found responsible for the killing of 58 people and injuries to 226 others.

The most notable among those given death penalty is Attaur Rehman, son of Faqir Muhammad, also known by aliases Naeem Bukhari and Abu Haris Mota. He was the head of Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ) for Sindh and carried head money of Rs20 million. He is believed to have also played a role in the kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, although he was never named in the case.

Rehman was twice arrested in the past — first in mid-2002, but on each occasion he was released by courts. He was then picked up for possessing a fake national identity card while travelling to Dera Ismail Khan in 2015. It was then a surprise catch for the law enfor­cement agencies, who initially did not realise that they had caught a high-value terrorist, according to a security official.

As per the FIA’s Red Book containing details of most wanted terrorists, he remained affiliated with the banned Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan and was a bomb-making expert.

Rehman along with his accomplices Muhammad Sabir, son of Alaf Gul, alias Munna, who was reportedly his deputy in the LJ, and Farooq Bhatti, son of Muhammad Ishaq, alias Musanna, the naib emir of Al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent, was involved in a number of high-profile attacks, including the ones on the Karachi airport and Chaudhry Aslam.

Sabir carried head money of Rs5 million, while there was Rs15m bounty on Bhatti, who is reportedly brother of a leader of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Karachi.

The arrest was announced by the military in February. At that time it was said that they were planning to free high-profile terrorists, including Daniel Pearl murder convict Omar Saeed Sheikh, from a jail in Hyderabad.

The other terrorist to get death sentence was Gul Zareen, son of Gul Sharif, who also remained associated with the LJ and later with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. He was found guilty of attack on the convoy of Farooq Awan, a police officer working for the counterterrorism department. Police constable Sartaj and Ahmed Khan were killed in the attack.

Published in Dawn December 6th, 2016