Nine military courts to be set up across the country

Army says three courts to be set up in K-P and Punjab, two in Sindh and one in Balochistan

Days after the President had signed into law constitutional amendments that allowed the constitution of military courts to try terror suspects, the Army said on Friday that the first of these courts are being set up in four provinces of the country.

According to an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement, nine such courts will be set up across the country initially.

Three courts will be established in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, while two courts will be set up in Sindh. One military court will be set up in Balochistan.

While it did not provide a specific date from when these courts will start functioning, the statement said that they will be operational “soon”.

President Mamnoon Hussain had on Wednesday signed the 21st Constitutional Amendment Bill 2015 into law, making it a part of the Constitution.

The bill had been passed in the National Assembly and Senate on Tuesday, and was passed unopposed in both the Upper House and Lower House.

The bill was presented in the National Assembly to seek changes in the Constitution and Military Act to speed up trial of terrorists after Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan gunmen killed over a hundred schoolchildren in an attack on December 16, 2014.