Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has said that 15,000 Afghan nationals went back to Afghanistan through Torkham after the opening of the border to facilitate their return. He expressed these views while addressing the National Coordination Committee (NCC) meeting through a video link. The NCC meeting was held in Islamabad on Wednesday with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair.

The chief minister of KP also gave the participants of the meeting an update on the coronavirus prevention measures in the province. The chief minister told the NCC that all the 152 pilgrims who had arrived vie Taftan and quarantined in Duranpur Quarantine Center (Peshawar) had been sent back to their homes. The chief minister also informed the meeting that in the wake of the SOPs (standard operating procedures), cement factories, sugar factories and some other industries had been allowed to resume operation.

Similarly, tobacco, safety match and steel manufacturing units had also been exempted from the restrictions of the lockdown. For facilitation of the small traders, the chief minister said that a representative meeting of the SMEs would be held soon to chalk out a plan for resumption of business activities.

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