Six death row convicts hanged in Punjab

Execution bring the total death toll since December to more than 240

ISLAMABAD: Six people convicted of murder in Punjab were hanged Thursday, bringing the total death toll since December to more than 240.

The hangings come following the controversial lifting of the moratorium on executions last year which is under growing scrutiny.

"Two brothers convicted for murder were executed in Dera Ghazi Khan, two convicts were hanged in Adiala while one prisoner was hanged in the prisons of Multan and Lahore," an official of the Punjab prisons department told AFP.

The executions took place in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab on Thursday and were confirmed by officials of the respective prisons.

The six-year moratorium was lifted by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after Taliban militants massacred more than 150 people -- mostly children -- at Peshawar's Army Public Army Public School last December.

Supporters argue that the death penalty is the only effective way to deal with the scourge of militancy in the country.

But critics say the legal system is unjust, with rampant police torture, poor representation for victims and unfair trials.

On Tuesday eight people were executed, and on Wednesday five, all in central Punjab province.