Military courts revived in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain has signed a summary of extension in the tenure of the military courts, ARY News reported on Friday.

After the President’s signature the tenure of the military courts in Pakistan has extended for two years.

Earlier, the National Assembly and the Senate had passed a legislation bill on the extension of the military courts. After passage of the bill it was sent to the president for his final nod to make the bill into a law.

President Mamnoon Hussain also signed the Inquiry Commission bill 2017 to make it a law.

The military courts earlier were created by a constitutional amendment after the deadliest terrorist attack in December 2014. The attack on Army Public School in Peshawar, in which gunmen killed more than 150 people—mostly children.

The Army intensified an operation against militants in the tribal areas and the government launched a National Action Plan, including the creation of the courts, against terrorism. The courts were seen as an “exceptional” short-term measure put in place to allow the government time to reform the criminal justice system.

Last month, a fresh wave of militant violence killed 130 people across Pakistan. The attacks dented optimism after the country appeared to be making strong gains in its decade-and-a-half long war on militancy.