By Zia Khan
dpa
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan on Tuesday hanged nine death row prisoners convicted of murder, officials said, ahead of the traditional temporary halt to executions during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts this week.
The executions took place at various jails of the central province of Punjab, an Interior Ministry official who requested anonymity said.
Pakistan has hanged nearly 160 convicts since lifting a six-year moratorium on death penalty in December. The resumption came after Taliban insurgents massacred more than 100 children at a school in Peshawar.
Last week, authorities hanged a man who was convicted of murder at the age of 15, and the Supreme Court rejected the appeal of another death row prisoner whose family said he was also a teenager at the time of his crime.
Officials said nobody would be sent to gallows during Ramadan, when Muslims across the world fast from dawn to dusk.
Pakistan has nearly 8,500 death row inmates, according to official statistics.