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Pakistan resumes execution of terrorists in wake of school massacre

Six men were executed since last week's Taliban attack on a Pakistani school that resulted in over 140 deaths. Five of the men were involved in a 2003 assassination attempt, while another was implicated in a 2009 attack on an army headquarters.

By Fred Lambert
Pakistani military helicopters fly over the facility after an attack on the entrance of Pakistani army headquarters in the city of Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, on October 10, 2009. On December 19, 2014, Pakistan resumed executions of terrorists after a five-year suspension. One of the accused was implicated in the 2009 attack. UPI/Sajjad Ali Qureshi
Pakistani military helicopters fly over the facility after an attack on the entrance of Pakistani army headquarters in the city of Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, on October 10, 2009. On December 19, 2014, Pakistan resumed executions of terrorists after a five-year suspension. One of the accused was implicated in the 2009 attack. UPI/Sajjad Ali Qureshi | License Photo

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Pakistan has executed at least six accused terrorists since last week's Taliban massacre at a school in Peshawar, marking the country's first executions since lifting a five-year suspension on capital punishment last year.

Four men were hanged Sunday in connection to a 2003 assassination attempt on then-President Pervez Musharraf, while two others faced the same fate Friday, one for involvement in the same plot and another for an attack on a Pakistani army headquarters in 2009. All of the men were executed at a jail in the central city of Faisalabad.

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This follows a Taliban attack on a school in Peshawar last week that killed over 140 people, mostly children. The Taliban said the attack was in retaliation for an ongoing Pakistani military offensive against the group in the country's northwest tribal regions.

Pakistani government forces were still killing Taliban militants in Peshawar days after eliminating the seven attackers at the school.

After imposing a five-year moratorium on executions in 2008, the Pakistani government allowed the suspension to expire in June of last year as the new administration of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sought to cement a reputation of being tough on crime and terrorism.

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At the time, Punjab members of the Pakistani Taliban promised a "swamp of blood" if any of its members was executed.

Sharif officially reinstated the death penalty Wednesday, one day after the Peshawar school attacks, and President Mamnoon Hussain then rejected several petitions for clemency from convicted terrorists.

The United Nations has warned Pakistan against resuming such sentences. According to Amnesty International and Pakistani media, Friday's executions represented the first in the country since before the moratorium was issued in 2008.

Also on Sunday Jordan executed 11 people after lifting a similar moratorium on the death penalty that had been in place since 2006.

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