Pakistan hangs eight terrorists

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday hanged four more people convicted of terror-related offences, the second such execution in as many days in the restive northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

These executions took the total number of hanged terrorists to over 170 since the Peshawar terror attack of 2014.

“They were involved in different terror activities including killing of innocent civilians, destruction of communication/ electricity infrastructure, destruction of educational institutions, attacking Armed Forces of Pakistan and Law Enforcement Agencies,” the army said.

The Taliban terrorists were tried by controversial military courts which work in secrecy due to fear of attacks by militants. Set up through a constitutional amendment in the wake of a terror attack on an Army-run school in Peshawar in 2014 that killed 150 people, mostly students, the courts were restored in March for two more years after their initial two-year term expired in January.

TWO PAK DIPLOMATS HELD IN KABUL

Two staffers of Pakistan’s Kabul embassy were detained for hours by Afghanistan’s intelligence officials before being released, prompting strong protest from Islamabad.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria said on Thursday the diplomats have returned to the Pakistani embassy in the Afghan capital.

Pakistan had protested the detentions a day earlier, calling it a violation of international conventions.

Kabul police said they were not aware of any detentions. Pakistan did not identify the diplomats or provide further details about when they were detained and released.

Relations between the two neighbours have been rocky. Each side blames the other of harboring Islamic militants in the lawless regions along their shared porous 2,200-km border.

Their armies traded heavy fire in early May along Pakistan’s southwestern border that triggered casualties on both sides. Media reports on Thursday said the two sides agreed to avoid escalation at the border.