Pakistan hangs 9 convicts, including 4 brothers
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Pakistani prison official says authorities have hanged nine convicts, including four brothers, the latest in a series of death sentences to be carried out since the country lifted a moratorium 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 has 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 offenses.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Prison official Khurram Ijaj says those executed Tuesday include four brothers convicted of murder. None of the nine were convicted of terrorism-related offenses.