Pakistan hangs two militants after Taliban school massacre

LAHORE Fri Dec 19, 2014 1:19pm EST

(Reuters) - Pakistan executed two prominent militants on Friday, sources said, in a clear response to this week's massacre of more than 130 children at a school.

The hanged militants had no links to the Taliban's assault in the city of Peshawar on Tuesday, but their executions came at a time when a shocked Pakistani society is piling pressure on the government to do more to stem escalating violence.

Pakistan lifted a moratorium on the death penalty after the attack and Mohammed Aqeel and Arshad Mehmood were the first prisoners reported hanged under the new arrangements.

The announcement of their deaths came just hours after The U.N. human rights office appealed to Pakistan to refrain from resuming executions, saying this would not stop terrorism and might even feed a "cycle of revenge".

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