Armed men kidnapped seven police officers in Pakistan's northwest on November 18, residents and police officials told Radio Mashaal. The police chief of Bannu district, where the incident took place, told reporters a search mission had been launched for the abducted officers. Local sources told Radio Mashaal the attackers disarmed the policemen after surrounding the security post and then abducted them.
No group has claimed responsibility. The incident follows an attack on October 14 in which four Pakistani police officers and five insurgents were killed when militants stormed a Bannu police headquarters in the volatile Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. The Islamist militant group Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for that attack.
The U.S.-based PEN America free-speech watchdog has asked the UN Human Rights Council to intervene in the case of imprisoned Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, who it said is in "urgent need of medical care .
" In an open letter, PEN urged the UN “to call on the Iranian authorities to grant Mohammadi a medical furlough on humanitarian grounds so that she is able to receive comprehensive and essential care for a range of serious medical conditions." Mohammadi, 52, has been in and out of prison for the past 20 years. She is currently serving a 12-year sentence in Tehran's Evin prison for "spreading propaganda," allegations that she, her family, and supporters reject.
The EU has widened its sanctions against Iran over the c.
