KARACHI: The Ministry of Interior has approved the transfer and trial of 18 cases, including the Safoora Goth massacre and the murder of Sabeen Mahmud, to military courts.

A document says the interior ministry has sanctioned 18 cases of Sindh for trial “strictly as per law under the Army Act 1952, as amended”.

The suspects to be tried in military courts are namely, Saad Aziz, Tahir Hussain Minhas, Asad Rehman, Hafiz Nasir Ahmed, Azhar Ishrat, Sultan Qumar Siddiqui, Hussain Umer Siddiqui, Naeem Sajid and Hafiz Umer.

The cases were earlier referred to the federal interior ministry by the home department of the provincial government.

Saad Aziz is among the prime suspects in both the Safoora Goth carnage and the murder of rights activist Sabeen Mahmud.

In October, an antiterrorism court was informed that due to security concerns, the trial of the Safoora Goth bus carnage case would be conducted inside the central prison.

The home department through a notification had informed the ATC-I that the trial of the suspects would be conducted inside the prison because of security reasons.

Sindh police in August had planned to send 35 cases of terrorist activities allegedly carried out by Safoora Goth bus attack suspects, believed to be local operatives of self-styled Islamic State, to military courts, official sources say.

The Sindh police had decided to ‘re-examine’ all terrorism-related cases on the basis of severity of the crime before recommending them to the home department in the wake of Supreme Court decision in favour of military courts.