Islamabad: The military top brass said that the military courts have heard 274 cases on national security and had awarded death sentences to 161 terrorists.

The military leadership said this while briefing the Senate Committee of the House on national security during an extraordinary in-camera session.

The military said 56 convicts had been executed in that time — 13 before the launch of Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad and 43 since the launch of the operation. The lawmakers were told that since Gen Bajwa was appointed army chief, the military courts had received 160 cases, sources said.

Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Maj. General Sahir Shamshad Mirza reportedly briefed the lawmakers on the action taken by security forces under Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad, which was launched in February.

Reports said the DGMO told the Senate committee that since the launch of the operation, 1,249 combing and intelligence-based operations have been conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. He added that 31 major operations have been undertaken in the region.

The DGMO told the Senate that 13,011 operations have been conducted in Punjab — including seven major operations — whereas 1,410 — including 29 major operations — have been undertaken in Balochistan, sources said. The DGMO added that 2015 operations were conducted in Sindh, including seven major operations.

The DGMO said that 18,001 operations were conducted based on intelligence information. He added that 4,983 search-based operations were conducted and 19,993 weapons were recovered.

According to reports, the DGMO also reportedly informed lawmakers that since the launch of the Rangers operation in Karachi in 2013 as many as 8,780 suspects have been handed over to the police, 12,105 weapons have been seized and 1,948 terrorists have been apprehended.

The DGMO reportedly said that 154 abductees have been freed from captivity and 154 kidnappers have been apprehended in that time.

Further, sources said that the DGMO reportedly told legislators that since the launch of the operation, 24 soldiers have been martyred.

The army chief, DGMO, Director General Inter-Services Intelligence Naveed Mukhtar and Director General Inter-Services Public Relations Maj. General Asif Ghafoor arrived at the Parliament House amid strict security arrangements. Parliamentary members, too, had arrived for the in-camera briefing.