Jordan hangs 15 convicts every year

Prisoners, all Jordanians, convicted of 'terrorism'
offences and rape hanged in Suaga prison
south of the capital.

Jordan hanged 15 death row prisoners at dawn on Saturday
in a further break with a moratorium on executions it had
observed between 2006 and 2014.

Ten were convicted of "terror" offences, including attacks
 on tourists, a writer, and security forces. Five others were
convicted of crimes including rape, Information
Minister Mahmud al-Momani told the official Petra news
agency.

The group of 10 were part of the so-called "Irbid terror cell",
which was responsible for several attacks.

In 2005, King Abdullah II said Jordan aimed to become the
first Middle Eastern country to stop carrying out executions, 
in line with most European countries.

Courts continued to hand down death sentences but
 they were not carried out.

But public opinion blamed a rise in crime on the policy
 and in December 2014 Jordan hanged 11 men convicted 
of murder, drawing criticism from human rights groups.

Opinion hardened after the murder by the Islamic State of 
Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group of captured Jordanian pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh whose plane
 had crashed in a rebel-held region of Syria in December
 2014.

Grisly footage posted in February the following year
 of him being burnt alive in a cage outraged the public.

Jordan swiftly hanged two people convicted of terrorism
offences, including Sajida al-Rishawi.

She had taken part in a 2005 suicide attack on luxury
 hotels in Amman organised by ISIL's forebear, al-Qaeda in Iraq, but her explosives failed to detonate.

Jordan is part of a US-led military coalition that has been
carrying out air raids against ISIL in Iraq and Syria.