Pakistan announces Rs 760 mln bounty for 615 militants

Peshawar, Jan 5: The government of Pakistan's restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province today announced a combined bounty of Rs 760 million for 615 high-profile militants, including a Rs 10 million bounty for information leading to the arrest or death of Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah.

A combined bounty worth Rs 760 million for 615 militants and proclaimed offenders including Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Fazlullah has been announced by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government, provincial Information Minister Mushtaq Ghani told PTI.

The combined bounty includes Rs 10 million each for information leading to the arrest or death of the Pakistani Taliban chief Fazlullah and Mangal Bagh, the chief of the Lashkar-e-Islam group that is active in the province. Pakistan has stepped up its campaign to wipe out terrorists from the restive northwest tribal areas in the aftermath of Taliban's Peshawar school carnage in which 150 people, mostly children, were killed.

A National Action Plan has been formed to deal with the menace of terrorism. Pakistan has also tabled two major bills in the National Assembly to amend the country's Constitution for creation of special military courts for speedy trial of terrorists in the aftermath of the deadly attack. The Pakistan Army has intensified its offensive in the tribal areas. A six-year-old moratorium on the death penalty was also ended in terror cases in Pakistan last month. Seven convicted militants have been hanged so far since the ban on capital punishment was lifted by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

PTI