Former soldier gets death for GHQ attack in Pakistan

In its verdict announced on Thursday evening, the field general court martial sentenced former soldier Aqeel alias Doctor Usman to death.

Another soldier, Imran Siddiq, was awarded life imprisonment. The five civilians convicted in the case were identified as Khaliqur Rehman, Muhammad Usman, Wajid Ali, Muhammad Adnan and Tahir Shafiq.

The first three were awarded life imprisonment while the other two were given jail terms of 10 and seven years, respectively, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

The civilians were convicted for assisting the attackers, helping them find their targets and inciting soldiers to wage war against the army.

Eleven soldiers were killed in the October 2009 attack when 10 heavily armed militants wearing suicide vests stormed the General Headquarters and held off army commandos for hours before they were killed or captured.

All seven convicts were subsequently shifted to the high security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.