Seven convicted by army court for GHQ attack in Rawalpindi

The Field General Court Martial convicted seven accused for the 2009 GHQ attack, including two army personnel and five
civilians.
In a verdict delivered Thursday evening, army sepoy Aqeel alias Dr Usman was sentenced to death, while another personnel Imran Siddiq was given life imprisonment. A fine of Rs200,000 and Rs100,000 has been imposed on the two,
respectively.
The convicted civilians include Khaliqur Rehman, Muhammad Usman, Wajid Ali, Muhammad Adnan and Tahir Shafiq. The first three have been sentenced to life imprisonment, while the other two have been given jail terms of 10 and seven
years, respectively.
The civilians have been convicted for assisting the attackers, helping them find their targets and inciting servicemen to wage war against the army.
People familiar with the matter said all seven convicts have been shifted to Adiala Jail.
The prime accused, Aqeel alias Dr Usman, is also involved in a number of other terrorism cases including the Marriot blast in September 2008, he said.
On October 10, 2009, heavily-armed militants wearing suicide vests, mounted a brazen attack on General Headquarters Rawalpindi and held off army commandos for hours.
Nine of the attackers were killed in the operation while one was arrested after he was wounded. He was identified as Aqeel, alias Dr Usman. According to the prosecution, the accomplices knew about Aqeel’s plans and had helped him carry out the attack.