Four militants hanged over school attack

ISLAMABAD (AP):

Pakistan hanged four convicted militants yesterday who were sentenced to death over a Taliban attack on an army-run school last year which killed more than 150 people, mostly children, officials said.

The two officials said the men were executed at a high-security prison in the north-western city of Kohat. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to media. The four are the first convicted militants to be executed in connection with the school massacre.

The December 16, 2014 attack, which was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, horrified the country and led the government to lift a 2008 moratorium on the death penalty. However, most of the nearly 300 people hanged since then have been convicted criminals, not militants.

Parents of children killed in the assault welcomed the executions and demanded that all those connected to the attack be given the same punishment.