Rawalpindi, Dec 7: A military court of appeal upheld the sentences of field general court martial (FGCM) for conviction of the terrorists who stormed the military headquarters in broad daylight in 2009.

The FGCM had on Aug 11 last year awarded death sentence to Aqeel Ahmed alias Dr Usman and Imran Siddique, life imprisonment to Wajid Mehmood, Khaliqur Rehman, Usman Gul and Adnan, and seven years to Tahir Shafique on charges ranging from desertion, murder, taking hostages and terrorism to attacking the armed forces at the GHQ on Oct 10, 2009.

According to Abdul Karim, father of Wajid Mehmood, the appellate court of military had rejected the convicts’ appeals on Nov 14,  but he was still waiting for a written order of the court.

Military sources also confirmed that the military court of appeal had upheld the sentence of FGCM for the seven convicts.

They said the appellate court announced the death sentence to Aqeel and Imran Siddique, the two former military persons who deserted army between 2006 and 2009, and handed out jail terms ranging between 7 and 25 years to their accomplices for murdering 16 persons and injuring 21 during the GHQ attack.

WAZIRISTAN CONNECTION: According to court documents, the most daring  terrorist attack in the country’s history, was conceived in Miramshah, North Waziristan, by those very militants who had attacked the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in March of the same year.

According to confessional statements of mastermind Aqeel Ahmed as well as other accused persons, the attackers were planning to take hostage a number of army brigadiers and generals to pressure the government into releasing detained militants.

They were tasked with carrying out the attack by the head of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan’s Amjad Farooqui group, Ustad Aslam Yasin, and Ilyas Kashmiri.