Pakistan’s Musharraf indicted in 2006 murder case of opposition leader

A Pakistani court has indicted the country’s former military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, and five others in the killing of an opposition leader in 2006.

The indictment was issued against Musharraf in absentia at the anti-terrorism court in Quetta, the capital of the southwestern province of Balochistan, on Wednesday.

Baloch nationalist leader, Akbar Khan Bugti, was killed in a military operation, sparking deadly nationwide protests and inflaming an insurgency in Balochistan. Musharraf was army chief and president at the time.

Former officials of Musharraf’s government including Shaukat Aziz, the prime minister, Aftab Sherpao, the interior minister, Owais Ghani, provincial governor, Mir Shoaib Nosherwani, the provincial home minister, and Kohlu district administrator Samad Laasi were charged.

Public prosecutor Taimur Shah said the court would resume hearings in the case on February 4.

Musharraf is also involved in several other cases against him, including the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007.

The former army general, who seized power in a bloodless coup in October 1999, stepped down as president in August 2008, about six months after his allies lost parliamentary elections in February 2008, and the new government threatened to impeach him. A year later, he left the country.

Musharraf returned to Pakistan in March 2013 after nearly four years of self-imposed exile in London and Dubai to run in the parliamentary elections. He was, however, barred from running due to charges dating back to his time in power.