BAGHDAD — Iraq has executed 42 “terrorism” convicts over the past week, the justice minister said on Thursday, defying condemnation of its extensive use of the death penalty as violence intensifies.



“In the course of the past week, the ministry has carried out the death sentences handed down against 42 people, one of them a woman, who were all convicted of terrorism offenses, in accordance with Article 4 of the anti-terrorism law,” Hassan Al-Shammari said.



The latest executions take to at least 132 the number of people who have been put to death in Iraq this year, according to an AFP tally based on reports from the Justice Ministry and officials.



Iraq executed 23 people on two days in September, 20 of them convicted on terrorism charges, the ministry said on Oct. 1.



The growing resort to the death penalty comes as violence in Iraq has reached a level not seen since 2008, when the country was just emerging from a brutal sectarian conflict.



More than 230 people have been killed so far this month, and more than 4,900 since the beginning of the year, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources. — AFP