LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday issued black warrants for two death row inmates, Malik Ashraf and Tahir, who are imprisoned at the Kot Lakhpat Central Jail.

According to the court’s warrants, Malik Ashraf will be hanged on March 17, while Tahir will be executed on March 18. According to DawnNews, the two condemned criminals have been imprisoned at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail for almost a decade.

NAP update

A report on the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) presented to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday said that 24 death row prisoners have been executed since December 24, 2014.

Know more: Nawaz constitutes special committee to implement National Action Plan

The report further said that security agencies have arrested close to 26,000 suspects in thousands of search operations in the country. Of these suspects, 2,519 were arrested from Punjab, 4,854 from Sindh, 14,165 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 3,427 from Balochistan, in addition to numerous arrests from Islamabad, Gilgit Baltistan and Fata.

The NAP was constituted in the aftermath of the Peshawar school massacre last year, with the aim of mapping out a comprehensive strategy to combat terrorism in Pakistan. Nawaz is himself heading a committee to ensure swift implementation of the plan.

Death penalty moratorium

Earlier today, an interior ministry official confirmed that the government had now completely lifted its moratorium on the death penalty, which now applies to all capital punishment cases, not just those involving terrorism.

Only a day earlier, an ATC in Karachi issued fresh death warrants for two inmates — Afzal and Faisal — convicted of murder during a house robbery. Despite the legal heirs of the deceased having pardoned the said convicts, the trial court issued black warrants on grounds that the accused had exhausted all modes of appeal, including a mercy plea with the President.