LAHORE/JHANG/RAWALPINDI/FAISALABAD/MIANWALI/ATTOCK: Nine more death row prisoners have been executed in various jails across the Punjab province on Wednesday morning.

With the recent hangings, so far 48 convicts have been hanged across the country, after the deadly attack on the Army Public School on December 16, 2014.

Take a look: Twelve convicts executed in various jails across Pakistan

Lahore

Tahir Shabir, a resident of Sabzazar area, has been hanged to death at the Kot Lakhpat Central Jail for killing a man in 2002.

An anti terrorism court (ATC) had awarded him death sentence under the Anti Terrorism Act (ATA). He had shot a man, Irshad Ali, dead over a petty issue of placing a signboard at a shop.

Jhang

Two convicts Ghulam Muhammad and Zakir Hussain were hanged in the District Jail Jhang.

Ghulam Muhammad had killed his brother-in-law in 2000 over a family dispute. The victim was supporting his sister in an earlier case against the culprit.

Zakir Hussain had killed a man Zulfiqar, who was a custodian of a shrine in 1998. Both the offender and the victim were engaged in a dispute over the custodianship of the shrine.

Both the murderers had been awarded death sentences by the district and sessions court Jhang.

Faisalabad

Two more condemned prisoners, Shafqat and Saeed, were executed in Central Jail Faisalabad over a dual murder charge, established against them.

They had killed two siblings — Arshed and Anwar — in 1998 due to an old rivalry.

A district court had awarded death sentences to both the culprits in 2001.

Rawalpindi

Prisoners Shaukat Ali and Muhammad Shabir have been hanged to death in Adiala Jail Rawalpindi.

They were convicted by a sessions court against charges of murders and attempt to murder.

Furthermore two other death row prisoners, Talib Hussain and Rab Nawaz, are also likely to be executed, in the next few hours.

Mianwali

Another death row prisoner Ahmed Nawaz has been executed in the Mianwali Jail. He was awarded death sentence by a district court for killing a man, Jawed Iqbal, in 1998.

Nawaz and Hashmat Khan were convicted for the murder of Iqbal, however Hashmat had died in the jail custody.

Attock

Asad Mehmood Khan was executed in the Central Jail Attock. He was awarded death sentence in a triple murder case.

Khan had killed three people of a family in 2002.

Executions halted

Meanwhile hangings of three convicts have been halted after their heirs managed to produce agreements between the plaintiffs and defending parties, before the jail authorities. Their cases have been referred to the respective trial courts.

Qadeer Ahmed was scheduled to be executed in the Adiala Jail Rawalpindi, while Azhar Mahmood and Muhammad Zaman were set to be hanged in Gujrat.

Appeals rejected

All the hanged convicts had filed petitions in superior judiciary, seeking review of their sentence but the applications were dismissed. Their mercy appeals had also been turned down by President Mumnoon Hussain.

The ruling PML-N government had lifted the moratorium on the death penalty in terrorism related cases in the wake of a Taliban attack at the APS Peshawar, which claimed 141 lives, most of them children.

Also read: Death penalty moratorium lifted completely in Pakistan: Officials

Later, the government completely reinstated capital punishment for all offences that entail the death penalty.

Know more: Pakistan should reverse lifting of moratorium on death penalty: HRW

The United Nations, the European Union, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have urged the government to re-impose the moratorium on the death penalty.

Some 8,000 convicted prisoners are in a death row in various jails across the country.