Pakistan hangs four men over school attack

Authorities have hanged four militants who were sentenced to death over a Taliban attack on an army-run school in Pakistan last year that killed more than 150 people, security officials have said.

The two officials said the men were executed on Wednesday in the north-western city of Kohat.

The executions came less than two weeks after Pakistan's prime minister Nawaz Sharif asked the country's president to reject the clemency petitions of the four "terrorists".

The December 16 attack on the school in Peshawar was claimed by the Taliban and prompted Pakistan to lift a 2008 moratorium on the death penalty.

Since then, Pakistan has hanged nearly 300 people, most of them convicted criminals, not militants.

Parents of children killed in the assault welcomed the executions and demanded that all those connected to the attack be given the same punishment.

"Today's executions cannot return my son to us, but I am happy to know that at least four terrorists have been hanged for their role in the killing of our children," said one woman.

She praised the military for trying, convicting and hanging them ahead of the anniversary of the attack.

Malik Tahir Awan, who lost his son in the attack,...