Islamabad, May 13 (IANS): Pakistani authorities approved the execution of five "hardcore terrorists" involved in a series of attacks in Karachi, an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said.

Chief Of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif on Thursday signed the death warrants of the five terrorists, the statement said.

The convicts admitted their offences before the trial court, the statement added.

Saad Aziz, Tahir Hussain Minhas, Asad-ur-Rehman, Hafiz Nasir and Mohammad Azhar Ishrat were facing trial for their involvement in the killing of 45 Ismaili community members, including 18 women, in a targeted attack on a bus near Karachi's Safoora Goth area on May 13, 2015.

At least 43 people were killed and 13 others wounded when armed men opened fire inside a bus carrying members of the Ismaili community.

The armed men used 9mm pistols in the massacre, and managed to flee after the attack.

They were also tried for their involvement in an attack on Karachi's Saleh Masjid in March 2015, killing of a social worker Sabeen Mahmud last April and attacking law enforcement agencies.

In December 2015, the interior ministry had approved the transfer and trial of 18 cases, including the Safoora Goth massacre and the murder of Sabeen Mahmud, to military courts.