ISLAMABAD: Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif endorsed on Monday death sentence of another nine men convicted of terrorism by military courts.

“The army chief has confirmed the death sentence of nine hardcore terrorists,” military spokesman Maj Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa said.

Another convict was sentenced to life imprisonment.

According to the ISPR, the convicts were involved in killings of civilians and personnel of law-enforcement agencies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, sectarian killings in Mustung, suicide attack on a mosque in Nowshera and the fatal attack on Maj Gen Sanaullah and Lt Col Tauseef Ahmed.

The two major cases were the Sept 2011 firing by a group of assailants in Mastung on a bus carrying Shia pilgrims to Iran; and the Sept 2013 improvised explosive device blast in Upper Dir in which General Officer Commanding Swat Maj Gen Sanaullah, Lt Col Tauseef and Lance Naik Irfan Sattar were killed.

This was the fourth sentencing since the military courts set up earlier this year through a legislation began deciding the terrorism-related cases sent to them for prosecution. This was the second time in a month that the army chief confirmed the death penalties of a batch of military courts’ convicts.

So far 27 terrorism convicts have been sentenced to death.

Something common in the last two batches, whose sentences have been ratified, is that they have, apart from the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, included terrorists linked with banned groups like Jaish-i-Muhammad, Harkatul Jehad-i-Islami and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi. The first two groups, whose sentences were approved by the army chief in April and August, primarily included terrorists based in tribal areas and associated with the TTP and local militant group Tauheed Wal Jehad.

The ISPR also provided details of the nine convicts and the cases in which they were involved.

Said Zaman Khan s/o Said Nawaz Khan: The convict was an active member of Harkatul Jehad-i-Islami. He was found involved in attacking the armed forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which resulted in the death of six soldiers and injuries to five and damage to government property. He admitted his offences before the magistrate and the trial court. He was tried on four charges and awarded death sentence.

Obaid Ullah s/o Mohammad Azam Baloch: The convict was an active member of Harkatul Jehad-i-Islami. He was found involved in attacking the armed forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which resulted in the death of two soldiers and injuries to 18 others, possessing a suicide jacket, fire arms/explosives and fabricating a huge quantity of explosives. He admitted his offences before the magistrate and the trial court. He was tried on six charges and awarded death sentence.

Mehmood s/o Khawaza Khan: The convict was an active member of Tehreek-i-Taliban. He was found involved in attacking law-enforcement agencies using improvised explosive devices and rocket launchers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which resulted in the death of two soldiers and injuries to 13. He admitted his offences before the magistrate and the trial court. He was tried on three charges and awarded death sentence.

Qari Zubair Mohammad s/o Sakhi Mohammad: The convict was an active member of Tehreek-i-Taliban. He was found involved in abetting a suicide attack on a mosque in Nowshera in which two soldiers and three civilians were killed and 81 others injured as well as possessing firearms/explosives. He admitted his offences before the magistrate and the trial court. He was tried on seven charges and awarded death sentence.

Rab Nawaz s/o Shahi Room: The convict was an active member of the banned TTP. He was involved in killing two civilians, processing firearms and abetting attack on the armed forces in Peshawar which resulted in the death of two soldiers and severe injuries to another. He admitted his offences before magistrate and the trial court. He was tried on four charges and awarded death sentence.

Mohammad Sohail s/o Zahoor Ahmed: The convict was an active member of the TTP. He was found involved in an attack on the armed forces in KP which resulted in injuries to soldiers.

He was also involved in abetting an attack on Bannu jail owing to which a large number of terrorists managed to escape and also resulted in injuries to two police constables and a soldier of the Frontier Constabulary. He admitted his offences before the magistrate and the trial court. He was tried on three charges and awarded death sentence.

Mohammad Imran s/o Mohammad Hanif: The convict was an active member of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi. He was found involved in sectarian killings in Mastung which resulted in the death of 27 people. He was also involved in attacking the law-enforcement personnel, possessing firearms and explosives. He admitted his offences before the magistrate and the trial court. He was tried on four charges and awarded death sentence.

Aslam Khan s/o Rozi Khan: The convict was an active member of the TTP. He was found involved in attacking law-enforcement agencies and civilians which resulted in the death of four persons, including one soldier, and injuries to four civilians and five soldiers. He admitted his offences before the magistrate and the trial court. He was tried on four charges and awarded death sentence.

Jameelur Rehman s/o Sher Rehman: The convict was an active member of Tehreek-i-Taliban (Swat). He was found involved in attacking a military convoy in which Maj Gen Sanaullah, General Officer Commanding, Lt Col Tauseef Ahmed and Lance Naik Muhammad Irfan Sattar lost their lives.

He was also involved in kidnapping and slaughtering employees of the armed forces and Frontier Constabulary, killing and injuring civilians and planting improvised explosive devices to cause damage to government property. He admitted his offences before the magistrate and the trial court. He was tried on eight charges and awarded death sentence.

Jamshed Raza s/o Allah Ditta: The convict was an active member of Harkatul Jehad-i-Islami. He was found involved in attacking the armed forces, killing two soldiers, possessing firearms and explosives. He admitted his offences before the magistrate and the trial court. He was tried on three charges and awarded sentence of imprisonment for life.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd , 2015

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