Iran has hanged eight people for drug trafficking and executed four others convicted of kidnapping and murder in the restive Sistan-Baluchestan province, media reported yesterday.

The eight unidentified traffickers were hanged in the city of Qom south of Tehra. Four other men identified as Mahmoud Barahui, Shahram Narui, Zohoor Ahmad Asef-Doost and Jahanbakhsh Barahui were executed yesterday in a prison in the city of Zahedan in southeastern Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported.

“They took innocent people hostage, extorted money from their families and caused fear and insecurity by killing some of the hostages,” Sistan-Baluchestan justice chief Ebrahim Hamidi told the agency.

The official said the group had killed three kidnapped men and a policeman.

Sistan-Baluchestan lies on a major drug trafficking route from neighbouring Pakistan and Afghanistan. Several people, including government officials, have reportedly been kidnapped by rebels and drug traffickers in recent years.

The province has also seen several deadly bombings over the past years blamed on the Sunni insurgent group the Jundallah.

The four were the first hangings reported in 2011.

Iran hanged at least 179 people in 2010, according to an AFP count based on media reports. At least 270 people were executed in 2009.

Along with China, Saudi Arabia and the US, Iran has one of the highest numbers of executions each year.

The Islamic republic says the death penalty is essential to maintain law and order and is applied only after exhaustive judicial proceedings.

Murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery are other crimes punishable by death in Iran.