Gen Bajwa confirms death to 11 terrorists

ISLAMABAD: The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Qamar Javed Bajwa, on Saturday confirmed death sentence to 11 terrorists handed down by the military courts for various attacks on security forces and civilians leaving dozens dead.

A statement issued by the military said in total the attacks left 60 dead, including 36 civilians and 24 armed forces, Frontier Constabulary and police officials, while 142 people were injured.

The offenses included attacks on the armed forces and other law enforcement agencies, destruction of various educational institutions and a deadly rampage at the Bacha Khan University in the northwest in early 2016 that left 21 dead. "The army chief also confirmed life imprisonment to three convicts," the statement added.

Pakistan has been fighting militants since 2004 when displaced by the US-led invasion of Afghanistan they began a campaign in the border tribal areas. The military courts were established in the wake of a December 2014 Taliban massacre at the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar in which over 150 people, mostly school children, were killed.

Following the attack, the government lifted the moratorium on death penalty. Scores of militants have since been condemned to death and security has dramatically improved in Pakistan since then.