PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A Pakistani court docket convicted and sentenced to demise two Islamic militants for killing 13 individuals in a suicide assault final 12 months within the nation’s northwest, police mentioned Monday.
Senior police officer Zeeshan Asghar informed reporters within the garrison metropolis of Abbottabad that Choose Sajjad Ahmed Jan introduced the decision within the excessive safety jail on Friday, after months of trial.
He mentioned the court docket awarded 13 demise sentences to Mohammad Hussain and Mohammad Ayaz for killing 9 Chinese language engineers, two paramilitary troops and two different locala, plus a 10- 12 months jail time period for every of the 32 individuals wounded within the assault. The decide additionally imposed heavy fines.
Hussain and Ayaz have been discovered responsible of orchestrating the July 14, 2021 suicide assault on a bus on a mountainous highway within the Kohistan area. The bus was carrying Chinese language engineers engaged on the Dasu dam venture within the area. 9 Chinese language have been killed and 27 wounded within the assault because the blast toppled the bus a deep ravine. Two Pakistani troops escorting the Chinese language and two others have been additionally killed.
Pakistani officers initially mentioned a gasoline leak brought about the explosion.
However the Chinese language Embassy in Islamabad mentioned the bus had been attacked, and Pakistan later discovered traces of explosives on the website.
The court docket acquitted 4 different suspects for a scarcity of adequate proof in opposition to them. Six suspects have been nonetheless at massive.
Asghar, the police officer, mentioned a search was ongoing for the lacking suspects and an attraction could be filed in opposition to the acquitted 4 suspects.
An legal professional for the convicted males was not instantly accessible for remark.
Pakistan’s northwestern area borders Afghanistan and has lengthy been a scene of rigidity by Islamic militants referred to as Pakistani Taliban, a separate group from the Afghan Taliban.
