Pakistan executes 9, official says none convicted for terrorism

A Pakistani prison official said authorities executed nine convicts, including four brothers, the latest in a series of death sentences to be carried out.

A Pakistani prison official said authorities executed nine convicts, including four brothers, the latest in a series of death sentences to be carried out since the country lifted a moratorium on capital punishment last year.

Tuesday’s executions bring the nationwide total to 255 since December, when Pakistan lifted the moratorium on the death penalty, following a Taliban attack on a school that killed 150 people, mostly children.

Pakistan presented the reinstatement of capital punishment as a response to years of militant violence, but human rights groups say the majority of those executed were convicted of criminal offences.

Prison official Khurram Ijaj said those executed on Tuesday include four brothers convicted of murder. None of the nine were convicted of terrorism-related offences.