Pakistan Hangs Two Terrorism Convicts

Pakistani soldiers patrol outside the central jail in Multan on January 7.

Pakistan on January 7 hanged two men sentenced to death by an antiterrorism court, bringing to nine the number of executions since last month's lifting of a moratorium on capital punishment.

The two, who were sentenced to death in 2002, were reportedly members of banned Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and had been found guilty of murder.

They were hanged in the southern city of Multan.

Pakistan lifted a six-year moratorium on the death penalty in terrorism cases following a Taliban attack that killed 142 children and nine staff at an army-run school in the city of Peshawar on December 16.

On January 6, parliament approved the use of military courts to hear terrorism-related cases in a bid to speed up hearings.

The country's notoriously slow civil court procedures often delays justice for years.

Based on reporting by AFP and dpa