
RAWALPINDI: Four convicted terrorists were sent to the gallows on Wednesday for their involvement in the Army Public School (APS) massacre in Peshawar last December in which over 150 people, mostly children, lost their lives."Four militants involved in the attack on the APS school were hanged this morning in Kohat prison," said a Peshawar security official.This is the first time that any convicts of the deadly Taliban attack have been executed and the first hangings of civilians convicted by military courts, which were set up after the massacre through a constitutional amendment.On Monday, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif had signed the death warrants of the four convicted terrorists, who included Maulvi Abdus Salam, Hazrat Ali, Mujeeb ur Rehman alias Ali alias Najeeb Ullah, and Sabeel alias Yahya.Hazrat Ali was convicted of involvement in collecting funds to carry out the APS attack. Mujeeb ur Rehman alias Ali alias Najeeb Ullah was found involved in transporting 10 suicide bombers for the attack on a PAF Base in Peshawar and abetment in the APS attack.Sabeel alias Yahya also found guilty of involvement in the PAF base Peshawar attack as well ass abetment in the APS massacre, while Maulvi Abdus Salam was found guilty of harbouring suicide bombers who were later used in the APS attack.All four terrorists were active members of the Toheedwal Jihad Group (TWJ), said to be a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, and admitted their guilt before the Magistrate and trial court after which they were awarded the death sentences.The attack, Pakistan's deadliest, shocked and outraged the country, already scarred by nearly a decade of unrest.It prompted a crackdown on extremism, with the establishment of military courts and the resumption of capital punishment after a six-year moratorium.In August, after a trial that took place behind closed doors, the army announced that six terrorists linked to the assault would be executed, while a seventh was handed a life sentence.Earlier this month Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif directed the president to reject appeals by four of them against the sentences, saying they deserved "no mercy".