Pak books two ‘terrorists’ for ‘waging war against state’

Two men were arrested by CID's Anti-Extremism Cell during raid in Karachi on June 12.

For the first time,Pakistani authorities have levelled a charge of waging a war against the state in a case involving two alleged terrorists,who are accused of sending youths to the Waziristan tribal region for training for suicide bombings and sectarian killings.

Abdul Razzak alias Omer and his accomplice Rashid Iqbal alias Basit,the alleged terrorists with links to Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan,have been arrested under Section 122 of the Pakistan Penal Code,which states that anyone collecting arms to wage a war against the state will be punished with life imprisonment or a term not exceeding 10 years and a fine,a media report said on Tuesday.

The two men were arrested by the Crime Investigation Department’s Anti-Extremism Cell during a raid in Karachi on June 12.

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Over 100 Taliban militants have been arrested in Karachi since 2007 but none of them was charged in a similar manner because authorities were unable to gather solid evidence against them,The Express Tribune newspaper reported. The two alleged terrorists are in their early 30s and were accused of sending youths to Waziristan tribal region for training for suicide bombings and sectarian killings.

Authorities claimed to have seized a large cache of arms and ammunition,including 20 kg of explosives and grenades,at the time of their arrest. In 2009,the two men allegedly prepared six youths for carrying out suicide attacks.

They took the boys to Waziristan,where four of them were killed in a drone attack and two,Waqar Ahmed and Arshad Khan,were injured and taken into police custody,” said SSP Chaudhry Aslam Khan.

“The terrorists also confessed before a judicial magistrate,” Khan said.

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In the past,authorities had charged arrested terrorists under sections related to the seizure of weapons or murder. Criminal law expert Iqbal Shah Advocate said that according to the law,intentions had no significance.

In this case,authorities will have to prove that the terrorists took the youths to Waziristan and trained them as suicide bombers,he said.

In most cases the terrorists confess in front of the authorities but refuse to do so in court and so it is necessary to record their statement under section 164 of the penal code in front of a magistrate,” he said.