Seven convicted in GHQ attack

A Pakistani military court has found seven men guilty of attacking the army headquarters in 2009, sentencing a retired soldier to death and four men to life imprisonment, an official said Saturday. Pakistan's main Taliban faction claimed responsibility for the day-long siege carried out by 10 militants at the army headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Troops ultimately fought off the attackers and freed 39 hostages, but 23 people were killed, including 11 troops, three hostages and nine attackers. "One former soldier, Aqeel, alias Dr Usman was awarded the death sentence while one of his accomplices, also an ex-soldier and three civilians were sentenced to life," the military official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Two other civilians were each handed seven years in prison. He did not give further details on the precise nature of the seven men's involvement in the attacks.
Our staff reporter from Islamabad adds: A field general court martial headed by Pakistan Army's brigadier delivered the verdict after five-month-long proceedings at an undisclosed location. Around five months back, the court had initiated the trial of seven accused including Dr Usman, at an undisclosed location.
Sources disclosed that the court awarded death sentence to Aqeel alias Dr Usman, a retired soldier medical corps of the military. Four accused - Imran Siddique, Khaliqur Rehman, Muhammed Usman and Wajid Ali - were given life imprisonment. Muhammed Adnan and Tahir Shafiq were awarded eight and seven year's jail terms, respectively. During attack on Pak Army's headquarters nine attackers were killed in retaliatory action by army commandos. Aqeel (Dr Usman) was arrested as he could not make his escape good due to serious injuries.