Islamabad: Pakistan on Wednesday hanged four militants linked to a Taliban massacre at a school in the northwestern city of Peshawar, the first time it has executed anyone convicted in the attack, which killed more than 150 people.

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"Four militants involved in the attack on the APS school were hanged this morning in Kohat prison," a Peshawar security official told AFP. 

A Kohat police official named the militants as Maulvi Abdus Salam, Hazrat Ali, Mujeebur Rehman and Sabeel, alias Yahya. The army on Monday issued a black warrant confirming their executions were imminent.

The hangings were confirmed by a prison official, who said the militants had held a final meeting with their families on Tuesday night.

The hangings come nearly a year after the December 16 attack by Taliban gunmen on the army-run school in Peshawar, the country`s deadliest ever extremist attack, in which the majority of the victims were children.

The attack shocked and outraged Pakistan, already scarred by nearly a decade of unrest, and prompted a crackdown on extremism, with the establishment of military courts and the resumption of capital punishment after a six-year moratorium. 

The militants` bodies will be handed over to the families shortly, the Kohat police official said.