Pakistan has hanged 12 convicted murderers, the highest number in a single day since the government lifted a six-year moratorium on capital punishment.
Ten of the convicts were hanged in the populous Punjab province, while two others were executed in the southern metropolis of Karachi, according to prison officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The latest hangings bring to 39 the number sent to the gallows since Pakistan resumed executions in December after Taliban militants gunned down more than 150 people, most of them children, at a school in the restive northwest.
The partial lifting of the moratorium, which began in 2008, initially only applied to those convicted of terrorism offences, but was last week extended to all capital offences.
In Punjab, three murder convicts were executed from the central town of Jhang, two from Rawalpindi near the capital, two from Mianwali, one from Multan, one from Faisalabad, and one from Gujranwala.
Two other executions planned for Tuesday were stayed by courts.
Shuja Khanzada, home minister for Punjab, confirmed the executions in his province and said more were scheduled in coming days.
"Today 10 convicts were hanged in different jails of the province," Khanzada said, adding that further executions would be carried out for those "whose mercy petitions have been rejected".
Among those due to be hanged is Shafqat Hussain, who was condemned to death as a teenager for killing a seven-year-old boy in 2004. Authorities said he would be executed on Thursday after a court dismissed his appeal.
Hussain's case has triggered outrage from rights campaigners, who complain he did not get a fair trial and say he was only 15 at the time of the killing.
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