Pakistan confirms death sentence for nine militants

Islamabad

Pakistan's army Monday announced the death penalty for nine hardline militants linked to a series of terrorist attacks across the country.

The men were convicted by military courts established as part of a crackdown following a massacre at a school in the northwest city of Peshawar on December 16 last year, in which more than 150 people, mostly children, were killed.

Parliament approved the use of the courts for the next two years, and the Supreme Court endorsed the move last month, rejecting claims it was unconstitutional.

"The army chief confirms death sentence of nine hard core terrorists involved in killing civilians/law enforcement agencies personnel in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and sectarian killings," in southwestern Baluchistan province, military spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa said in a tweet.

The militants were also involved in several other incidents including attacks on senior army officials and a mosque in the northwestern city of Nowshera.

"One terrorist (was) awarded life imprisonment," Bajwa said.

Later, the military issued a statement saying the nine convicts awarded death sentences -- named as Said Zaman Khan, Obaid Ullah, Mehmood Khan, Qari Zubair Muhammad, Rab Nawaz, Muhammad Sohail, Muhammad Imran, Aslam Khan and Jameel-ur-Rehman -- belonged to banned outfits including the Pakistani Kashmir-based Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami and Tehreek-e-TalibanPakistan.

Convict Jamshed Raza, who was awarded life imprisonment, belonged to Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami, it added. 

The army announced the first verdicts and sentences from the new courts in April when six militants were condemned to death and another jailed for life, all on terrorism charges.