PAKISTAN TO ESTABLISH TERROR-RELATED MILITARY COURTS: PM

Islamabad, 4 Rabi’ul Awwal 1436/26 December 2014 (MINA) – Pakistan says the country will establish military courts to prosecute terrorism-related cases following a recent bloody attack on an army-run school in the country’s northwest.

Speaking in a nationally televised speech early Thursday after a meeting with political and military leaders, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the courts would function for the next two years to speed up the trial of terrorists.

“The Peshawar attack has shocked the nation. We will not let the blood of our children go in vain,” Sharif said, Press TV quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The Pakistani premier gave few details about the courts but said the country’s constitution is in need of certain changes to facilitate the establishment of such courts.

The decision was made at a time when Pakistan is witnessing a surge in militant attacks.

On December 16, a group of pro-Taliban militants stormed the army-run school in the city of Peshawar and killed 149 people, including 132 students. Some 120 students were also injured in the raid.

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants claimed responsibility for the assault, saying it was carried out in retaliation for the Pakistani army’s major military offensive in North Waziristan tribal area, which borders Afghanistan.

The Pakistani army, known for its support for the Taliban, launched an operation against militant hideouts in North Waziristan in June after a deadly raid on Karachi Airport ended the government’s faltering peace talks with pro-Taliban militants. (T/P010/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)