Jordan executes 15 prisoners, including 10 convicted of terror charges

March 4 (UPI) -- Jordan executed 15 prisoners Saturday morning, including 10 convicted of terrorism-related offenses.

Government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani said some were executed for their role in an attack on the General Intelligence Department office in the Baqaa refugee camp and another attack against security forces in the city of Irbid.

The others were convicted of various other bombings and attacks, including the assassination of Jordanian and political activist Nahed Hattar and a 2003 bomb attack on Jordan's Embassy in Baghdad.

The five prisoners not involved in terrorism-related crimes were convicted for criminal offenses such as incest and rape.

All 15 prisoners were hanged at dawn at the Swaqa Correctional and Rehabilitation Center in one of the largest executions since the country reinstated the death penalty in 2015.

Samah Hadid, deputy director of Amnesty International's Beirut office, condemned the executions.

"The horrific scale and secrecy around these executions is shocking," Hadid said. "There is no evidence that the death penalty addresses violent crime, including terrorism-related offenses."