Iraq executed 12 terrorists following a recommendation by the office of the Iraqi prime minister to carry out death sentences more quickly.
Haidar al-Abadi's office announced on Friday that the convicts were hanged the previous evening after they had exhausted all possibilities for appeal. The Justice Ministry released a photograph of the execution.
Al-Abadi is facing questions over security in the country after bodies of eight policemen and members of a pro-government Shiite militia were found on the side of a highway north of Baghdad earlier this week. The eight were believed to have been abducted by Islamic State militants earlier this month.
Al-Abadi on Thursday urged Iraqi President Fuad Masum to immediately sign execution orders for all convicted terror suspects sentenced to death.