The executions were a further break with the moratorium on executions the country had observed between 2006 and 2014.

Jordan hanged 15 death row prisoners at dawn on Saturday, Information Minister Mahmud al-Momani said.

The executions were a further break with the moratorium on executions the country had observed between 2006 and 2014.

Momani told the official Petra news agency that 10 of those put to death had been convicted of terrorism offenses, while five were convicted of crimes including rape and sexual assault.

Momani also said those executed included one man who was convicted of an attack last year on an intelligence compound that killed five security personnel.

Another five were involved in an assault by security forces on a militant hideout in Irbid city in the same year that led to the death of seven militants and one police officer, while the rest related to separate incidents that go back as far as 2003.

All were Jordanians and they were hanged in Suaga prison south of the capital Amman.

Jordanian writer Nahed Hattar

Demonstrator against killing of Jordanian writer Nahed Hattar