Pakistan executes man convicted for killing policemen in 1997

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan today executed a death row prisoner convicted of killing four policemen in 1997, taking the number of convicts executed to 211 since the country lifted its moratorium on the death penalty in March this year.

Zulfiqar was executed in Bhawalpur central jail. He was convicted by a district court and his all appeals against sentenced were turned down by the higher courts.

Pakistan lifted its moratorium on the death penalty in all capital cases on March 10.

Executions in Pakistan resumed in December last year, ending a six-year moratorium, after Taliban fighters gunned down 154 people, most of them children, at a school in Peshawar.

Hangings were initially reinstated only for those convicted of terrorism offences, but in March they were extended to all capital offences.

According to interior minister Nisar Al Khan so far 211 convicts have been executed.

More than 8,000 prisoners are on death row in Pakistan and about 160 convicts have been executed since the Nawaz Sharif government lifted moratorium on death penalty.

Pakistan has refused to stop hanging despite criticism by the United Nations, the European Union, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.