Pakistan's president has denounced St Valentine's Day, saying the festival has no connection with Pakistani culture and should be avoided.


President Mamnoon Hussain told students that it was a Western tradition and conflicted with Muslim culture.
His remarks came after a district in north-western Pakistan banned Valentine's Day celebrations.
Valentine's Day is popular in many cities in Pakistan, but religious groups have denounced it as decadent.
 88238054 5de5d315 3eb3 4c81 a465 b44c85e4e8db - Pakistan President denounce Valintine DayImage copyrightKohat District GovernmentEarlier this week, the local government in Kohat, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told police officers to stop shops from selling Valentine's Day cards and items.
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Kohat district is run by a religious political party and borders Pakistan's conservative tribal areas.
Meanwhile, the Peshawar local council also passed a resolution to ban celebrations of what it called a "useless" day.
Kohat district administrator Maulana Niaz Muhammad told the BBC Urdu: "Valentine's Day has no legal grounds, and secondly it is against our religion, therefore it was banned."