PESHAWAR: The eight army officers summoned by the judicial commission probing the 2014 Army Public School killings will record their statements after the Indo-Pak border tensions ease, the focal person for the commission said on Thursday.

The commission head, Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan of the Peshawar High Court, had sent a letter to the defence ministry on Feb 11 seeking the appearance of eight army officers before him for recording statements in connection with the APS militant attack, which had killed 147 people, mostly students.

Focal person for the commission Imranullah Khan told reporters that a few days ago, the commission sent a reminder to the ministry seeking the schedule of the army officers’ appearance before it.

He said the ministry’s relevant officer informed the commission’s staff members that the military officers were unable to appear before the commission due to the Indo-Pak border tensions and that as soon as the situation improved, they would record their statements.

The focal person said the military officers were key witnesses in the case and therefore, the commission couldn’t finalise its report without recording their statements.

They include Major General Inam Haider of the Engineering Corps, who was then a brigadier, the chairman of the board of governors of the Army Public Educational Institutions prior to the militant attack, retired brigadier Abdul Naeem Bhatti, acting commanding officer Major Abdul Latif, Lieutenant Colonel Muzzafaruddin Ansari, Lieutenant Colonel Jamil Ahmad Lakhiar, Major Mohammad Asjad Bugti, Major Aamir Shah, who had also received injuries in the attack, and Major Doctor Zahid Cheema of Army Medical Corps.

Imranullah said once those officers recorded their statements, the report would be finalised and submitted to the Supreme Court on whose orders the commission was set up.

The commission, which has been conducting in-camera proceedings due to the sensitivity of the matter, has so far recorded statements of around 100 people, including parents of martyred students, army and police officials, and injured students. The commission was initially given six weeks time by the Supreme Court to complete task.

However, the court had given it more time for the probe as several important statements were to be recorded.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2019