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Pakistan Hangs Two For Sectarian Murder


Relatives move the body of a convicted militant from banned Sunni militant outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) after he was executed in Karachi on February 3.
Relatives move the body of a convicted militant from banned Sunni militant outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) after he was executed in Karachi on February 3.

Pakistan has hanged two militants found guilty of the murder of a Shi'ite doctor in Karachi in the latest executions since the government lifted a moratorium on capital punishment last December.

Attaullah, alias Qasim, and Mohammad Azam were convicted of killing Doctor Ali Raza in 2001 at a bazaar in Karachi.

Both men were members of the banned Sunni group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a group that regularly targets Shi'ites.

A prison official speaking under condition of anonymity confirmed the two men were hanged on the morning of February 3.

In Karachi, two small bombs exploded near schools on February 3.

A note left behind warned of more violence if the hangings continue.

Pakistan's government ended the moratorium on the death penalty after militants attacked a school in Peshawar on December 16 and killed some 150 people, 134 of them children.

With reporting by AFP
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