Four killer brothers hanged in Pakistan

Islamabad - Four brothers were among nine death row prisoners hanged in Pakistan on Tuesday on murder charges, officials said, as the country defied calls to reinstate a moratorium on the death penalty.

The hangings took place in the eastern province of Punjab, an Interior Minister official said on the condition of anonymity.

Pakistan has executed more than 250 death row inmates since lifting a six-year suspension on enforcing the death penalty in December 2014, following a deadly Taliban attack at a school.

Although the government said the decision was part of a plan to deter Islamist militants, fewer than 30 terrorists have been executed so far, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

International rights groups and local activists have put pressure on the government to reintroduce the ban on executions, calling the reinstated use of capital punishment a breach of fundamental rights.

The government rejected these calls, saying it wanted to hang all 8 500 death row convicts across the country.