ISLAMABAD – The Interior Ministry on Friday told the upper house of the parliament that the former spokesperson of Tehrik-e-Taliban Ehsanullah Ehsan would be tried in a military court. The former terrorist leader had surrendered himself before an intelligence agency last year.
Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry assured the House during questions hour that the TTP spokesperson involved in several terrorist incidents will not be pardoned. He said that video statements of Ehsanullah Ehsan have also been made public, which are sufficient to reflect that the concerned departments are dealing his case as per of the law of the land.
“Ehsan had surrendered to an intelligence agency; they can tell more about him. If the house desires, we can ask the relevant ministry to produce more details,” he said, without naming the Defence Ministry.
The Minister of State said Pakistan has adopted a zero-tolerance policy in the war against terrorism.
Earlier in the day, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal in his written reply to Babar’s question had made it clear that civilian agencies were not looking into the matter. He added that Ehsan’s case would be sent to a military court after approval by the relevant committee in this regard.
Ehsan was associated with the TTP and served the outlawed organisation as its spokesperson. In 2014, after a split in the TTP, Ehsan had become a spokesperson for JuA — what was then a newly formed splinter group of the TTP.
He had claimed responsibility for the attack on the Army Public School that took place in December 2014. In April 2017, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had announced that Ehsan surrendered to Pakistan’s security agencies. Later, the army had released a video in which Ehsan claimed that terrorist organisations were being used by India and Afghanistan.
