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Pakistan Military Court Jails 25 over 2023 Attacks

Supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan hold his posters during a gathering by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to observe Martyrs' Day to honor those who allegedly died during last month's protest, in Peshawar on December 15, 2024. (Photo by Abdul MAJEED / AFP)
Supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan hold his posters during a gathering by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to observe Martyrs' Day to honor those who allegedly died during last month's protest, in Peshawar on December 15, 2024. (Photo by Abdul MAJEED / AFP)
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Pakistan Military Court Jails 25 over 2023 Attacks

Supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan hold his posters during a gathering by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to observe Martyrs' Day to honor those who allegedly died during last month's protest, in Peshawar on December 15, 2024. (Photo by Abdul MAJEED / AFP)
Supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan hold his posters during a gathering by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to observe Martyrs' Day to honor those who allegedly died during last month's protest, in Peshawar on December 15, 2024. (Photo by Abdul MAJEED / AFP)

Twenty-five civilians were sentenced by a Pakistani military court to periods of two to 10 years of "rigorous imprisonment" in connection with attacks on military facilities in 2023, the armed forces' media wing said on Saturday.
The ruling underscores concerns among supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan that military courts are going to play a bigger role in cases involving the 72-year-old, who is facing multiple charges including allegedly inciting attacks against the armed forces.
Thousands of Khan supporters stormed military installations and torched a general's house on May 9, 2023 to protest against the former premier's arrest by paramilitary soldiers. At least eight people were killed in the violence.
The military's Inter-Services Public Relations office said the sentences handed down on Saturday were an "important milestone in dispensation of justice to the nation,” Reuters reported.
"It is also a stark reminder to all those who are exploited by the vested interests and fall prey to their political propaganda and intoxicating lies, to never take law in own hands," it added in a statement.
Others charged over the violence were being tried in anti-terrorism courts but justice would only be fully served "once the mastermind and planners ... are punished as per the Constitution and laws of the land," the military said.
The ruling comes days after Khan was indicted by an anti-terrorism court on charges of inciting attacks against the military. An army general who served under him as his spy chief, Faiz Hamid, is facing a military investigation on the same charges.
Pakistan's Supreme Court last week allowed military courts to announce verdicts in concluded trials of nearly 85 supporters of Khan on charges of attacking army installations, however it made such verdicts conditional on the outcome of appeals against the jurisdiction of military courts over civilians.
The court last year provisionally allowed military courts to try civilians.

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Two US Navy Pilots Shot Down Over Red Sea in Apparent ‘Friendly Fire’ Incident, US Military Says

Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is moored near Split, Croatia, Feb. 14, 2022. (AP)
Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is moored near Split, Croatia, Feb. 14, 2022. (AP)
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Two US Navy Pilots Shot Down Over Red Sea in Apparent ‘Friendly Fire’ Incident, US Military Says

Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is moored near Split, Croatia, Feb. 14, 2022. (AP)
Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is moored near Split, Croatia, Feb. 14, 2022. (AP)

Two US Navy pilots were shot down Sunday over the Red Sea in an apparent “friendly fire” incident, the US military said, marking the most serious incident to threaten troops in over a year of America targeting Yemen's Houthi militias.

Both pilots were recovered alive after ejecting from their stricken aircraft, with one suffering minor injuries. But the shootdown underlines just how dangerous the Red Sea corridor has become over the ongoing attacks on shipping by the Iranian-backed Houthis despite US and European military coalitions patrolling the area.

The US military had conducted airstrikes targeting the Houthis at the time, though the US military’s Central Command did not elaborate on what their mission was and did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press.

The F/A-18 shot down had just flown off the deck of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, Central Command said. On Dec. 15, Central Command acknowledged the Truman had entered the Mideast, but hadn't specified that the carrier and its battle group was in the Red Sea.

“The guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, which is part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18,” Central Command said in a statement.

From the military's description, the aircraft shot down was a two-seat F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet assigned to the “Red Rippers” of Strike Fighter Squadron 11 out of Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia.

It wasn't immediately clear how the Gettysburg could mistake an F/A-18 for an enemy aircraft or missile, particularly as ships in a battle group remain linked by both radar and radio communication.

However, Central Command said that warships and aircraft earlier shot down multiple Houthi drones and an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the militias. Incoming hostile fire from the Houthis has given sailors just seconds to make decisions in the past.

Since the Truman's arrival, the US has stepped up its airstrikes targeting the Houthis and their missile fire into the Red Sea and the surrounding area. However, the presence of an American warship group may spark renewed attacks from the militias, like what the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower saw earlier this year. That deployment marked what the Navy described as its most intense combat since World War II.

On Saturday night and early Sunday, US warplanes conducted airstrikes that shook Sanaa, the capital of Yemen that the Houthis have held since 2014. Central Command described the strikes as targeting a “missile storage facility” and a “command-and-control facility,” without elaborating.

Houthi-controlled media reported strikes in both Sanaa and around the port city of Hodeidah, without offering any casualty or damage information. In Sanaa, strikes appeared particularly targeted at a mountainside known to be home to military installations. The Houthis later acknowledged the aircraft being shot down in the Red Sea.

The Houthis have targeted about 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip started in October 2023 after Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage.

Israel’s grinding offensive in Gaza has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, local health officials say. The tally doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians.

The Houthis have seized one vessel and sunk two in a campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by separate US- and European-led coalitions in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have also included Western military vessels.

The militias maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.

The Houthis also have increasingly targeted Israel itself with drones and missiles, resulting in retaliatory Israeli airstrikes.