Pakistani officials say eight of the 10 men reportedly imprisoned for the shooting of teenage activist Malala Yousafzai were actually set free.
In April, the antiterrorism court in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province announced that 10 Pakistani Taliban militants were sentenced to life imprisonment for involvement in the 2012 attack in Swat district.
But it has emerged that only two of them were convicted.
Muneer Ahmed, a spokesman for the Pakistani diplomatic mission in London, said on June 5 that the eight men were acquitted because of a lack of evidence.
Swat district police chief Salim Khan Marwat confirmed that the court convicted only two men.
Malala survived a gunshot to the head and went on to earn international praise for her fight for the right of all children, including girls, to an education.
Malala, who is now 17 years old, was awarded the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.