The Lashkar-e-Islami (LI) executed four men on Thursday after pronouncing them guilty of abduction and murder at a self-styled court, witnesses and a spokesman said. The executions by firing squad took place near Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency. The LI announced the impending execution by mosque loudspeakers in Bar Qambarkhel village, 10 kilometres northwest of Bara, late on Wednesday and urged locals to witness the killings, a local tribesman told AFP. "Four blindfolded criminals with hands tied behind their backs were brought by LI men and lined up outside the mosque. Four LI fighters sprayed bullets, killing them on the spot," said witness Malik Qasim Khan Afridi. The killings were carried out after morning prayers, he said. "The execution of four men allegedly involved in abduction and murder of innocent people was carried out after a sharia court procedure," said LI spokesman Haji Zar Khan. Ulas Khan Afridi, a 35-year-old shopkeeper, who lives near the mosque, said an LI member announced the execution soon after Fajr prayers.