Pak Army chief confirms death sentences to 12 'hardcore terrorists'

Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa today confirmed the death sentences awarded to 12 "hardcore terrorists" who were involved in the killing of civilians, Shia minorities and security personnel.

These terrorists include those who planned and executed an attack on Markazi Imam Bargah Parachinar, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army's media wing, said in a statement.

"On the whole, they were involved in killing of 34 persons including 26 civilians, 8 Armed Forces/Frontier Constabulary personnel and injuring 133 others. Arms and explosives were also recovered from their possession," it said.

Four terrorists - Ashiq Khan, Rasheed, Meraj and Muhammad Rasool - of a banned extremist group were involved in the attack on Markazi Imam Bargah Parachinar that killed 22 members of minority Shia community and wounded 130 others last year, the ISPR said.

These convicts admitted their offences before the magistrate and the trial court awarded them death sentence, it said.

Jannat Karim, Abu Bakar and Anwar Khan - all members of a banned group - were involved in attacking security personnel that killed five policemen and three civilians, the statement said.

Ghulam Habib, , Abdul Ghafoor, Rawaz Khan, Mubarik Zeb and Ayub Khan were sentenced to death by special military courts.

Six other convicts were awarded imprisonment.

The special courts were set up after the terrorist attack on an army school in December 2014 in Peshawar that killed nearly 150 people, mostly students.