SECURITY
Top security body wants ties with Kabul normalised
ISLAMABAD: The National Security Committee endorsed normalization of diplomatic and political ties with Afghanistan which have been frozen over terrorism concerns and border disputes. The committee, which is the top civil-military coordination forum, met infrequently under Nawaz Sharif, although the frequency improved towards the last days of the ousted prime minister. The last two meetings took place within a span of almost a week because of the Chinese hostage crisis and deterioration in relations with Afghanistan. Dawn, Akhbar-e-Khyber
LEAs arrest 11 suspects
LAHORE: The law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) claimed to have arrested 11 suspects in a joint operation in Batapur. The agencies also recovered illegal weapons, including Ozi gun, two pistols and three AK-47s, from the suspects who were later shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation. Dawn, The Express Tribune
Four persons injured in Dir blast
Lower Dir: Four people, including a woman, were injured when a car they were boarding was hit by an improvised explosive device in Merakai area of restive Maidan in lower Dir District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Dawn
Policeman Shot Dead In Bannu
BANNU: A policeman was shot dead by unidentified armed men in Bannu. Police said Constable Mehran of Mandan Police Station was travelling to home after duty in the morning when unidentified armed men opened fire on him in Yak Qabar area, leaving him dead on the spot. Radio TNN , Akhbar-e-Khyber
SOCIO-ECONOMIC
Five-year plan: Fata schools to be rebuilt on priority
Peshawar: Fata Education Department has devised a five-year plan to boost literacy rate in the tribal areas, reconstruct and rehabilitate education institutions damaged or destroyed due to militancy, end disparity between male and female enrollment and promote higher education. Giving details of the 2015-20 plan for Fata education, Fata Education Department Director Hashim Khan Afridi told media that under the plan the first priority is to reconstruct all destroyed and damaged schools. The Express Tribune
CHINA PAKISTAN ECONOMIC CORRIDOR
Three more motorways ‘to be made part of CPEC’
ISLAMABAD: National Highway Authority (NHA) Chairman Shahid Ashraf Tarar has said three more motorway projects will be included in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) during the upcoming meeting of the Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC). The projects include Naukundi-Mushkel-Panjgur (90km), Gilgit-Shindor-Chitral (364km) and Mirpur-Muzaffarabad-Mansehra (228km), said the chairman on Wednesday while giving a briefing to Federal Minister for Communications Hafiz Abdul Karim regarding the projects that comes under CPEC. The Express Tribune
