# World

No Sikh converted to Islam: Pakistan

Pakistan on Thursday refuted media reports that some Sikhs in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province were forcibly converted to Islam. “Misinformation is…

IANS | Islamabad | December 21, 2017 3:00 pm

Pakistan on Thursday refuted media reports that some Sikhs in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province were forcibly converted to Islam.

“Misinformation is being spread about an incident in Hangu,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said, adding that some shopkeepers including Sikhs got into a row with a local official.

The spokesperson said the concerned official was immediately suspended and a formal inquiry was ordered into the incident.

Faisal said Pakistan remained committed to the freedom of religion and protection of the rights of all minorities.

Earlier, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj expressed concern over the reported conversion and promised to take up the issue with Pakistani authorities.

# World

16 soldiers killed in Pakistan’s restive South Waziristan

In a separate incident, two loud explosions were heard in Balochistan's Kharan on Friday, where the Frontier Corps South had found at least 30 kilogrammes of explosives at an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) factory.

# World

Balochistan: Understanding the crisis of ‘forcible disappearances’

Many of these individuals are held without charge, leaving their families in a state of uncertainty regarding their fate. While the issue has garnered international attention, efforts to hold the perpetrators accountable have largely proven ineffective.

# Opinion

Dying to kill

It is reported in the press that in Pakistan, 12 security personnel were killed last month when a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a check post in Pakistan’s north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.