Ex-Pakistani soldier sentenced to death

Sat Aug 13, 2011 4:43PM GMT

Soldiers are taking positions outside the Pakistan army headquarters after it was attacked by armed men. (file photo)

A Pakistani military court has sentenced a retired soldier to death for his role in a 2009 militant attack on the army headquarters in Rawalpindi.

Six others, five of them civilians, were given various sentences, including life, after the court martial that ended on August 11th.

"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," AFP quoted a military official as saying.

The civilians were convicted for helping the attackers.

In October 2009, a small group of militants wearing suicide vests attacked the Pakistani army's General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, taking 42 people hostage, including several officers.

By the end of the day-long siege, nine gunmen, 11 soldiers and three hostages were dead.

Earlier in May, a similar raid on a naval air base killed 10 security officials in the southern city of Karachi.

Three senior Navy officers are facing court martial regarding the attack.

SS/JR