Pakistan has executed a former soldier convicted of murder — the first execution carried out in the country in four years.

Authorities say Mohammad Hussain was hanged early Thursday in the city of Mianwali in Punjab province.

Hussain was sentenced to death in 2009 for killing his senior officer.

Pakistan's army chief rejected his petition for mercy and President Asif Ali Zardari did not stay the execution, the first since the Pakistan People's Party came to power in 2008.

Pakistan has had an unofficial moratorium on execution in recent years. There are at least 8,000 prisoners on death row in the country.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan continues to call for the abolition of the death penalty.