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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday ����ֱ�� has offered free training in information technology and artificial intelligence for Pakistani youth, as Islamabad seeks to expand opportunities for skilled employment abroad.

The announcement came as Sharif addressed the Youth Laptop Scheme 2025 ceremony in Islamabad, where 100,000 laptops were distributed to students under a program that has run since 2011 at an estimated total cost of Rs40-50 billion ($142-178 million). He said his government aimed to link such initiatives with international training and employment prospects.

“I just came back from ����ֱ��. They are spending billions of dollars on AI and information technology,” he told the gathering, adding that the Saudis shared information about the entire roadmap and infrastructure that they have established.

When the prime minister told his hosts his country did not have so many resources and could not spend so much, they asked him not to worry.

“Our setup in ����ֱ�� is free for the sons and daughters of Pakistan, God willing,” Sharif quoted them as saying. “You bring them [here], we will train them.”

The prime minister said he would try to send thousands of trained Pakistanis to ����ֱ�� to meet the Kingdom’s demand for skilled technicians as it prepares to host major global events, including Expo 2030 and the 2034 FIFA World Cup.

Pakistan and ����ֱ�� enjoy close political and economic ties and have recently signed a joint defense pact and decided to launch an economic cooperation framework.

����ֱ�� also remains the largest source of workers’ remittances to Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD: Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti on Thursday announced new capacity-building measures for the provincial police and said more than 500 militants had been killed this year amid escalating violence in Pakistan’s restive southwest.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but poorest province, has long been plagued by an insurgency that has intensified in recent months, with separatist militants increasingly targeting security personnel, government officials, infrastructure and non-local residents.

The province is strategically significant for its vast mineral wealth and as a transit hub for the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), with groups like the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) demanding independence while accusing the central government of exploiting local resources, a charge Islamabad denies.

“We are strengthening our intelligence, we are strengthening our leadership, and the day will come that the police will stand on their feet,” Bugti said during a news conference in Quetta.

He said the province was consolidating specialized counterterrorism and rapid-response units under a unified police structure, while members of the paramilitary Levies Force who opt not to transfer to the police would be offered voluntary retirement with benefits.

The chief minister also noted the government was working to revive police morale through revised pay packages and new welfare measures for the families of officers killed in the line of duty.

He said the provincial government was relying on merit-based recruitment to further strengthen the force.

“There will be no political pressures on you, there will be no political influence on you,” Bugti said while referring to the police. “But the results should be that people should feel the difference: that people should go toward peace, people should go toward brotherhood from the police.”

He acknowledged that Pakistani security forces were suffering losses in the province, though he added that so were the militants.

“On a daily basis, four to five hardcore terrorists are being killed everywhere,” he said. “And this year, only this year, more than 500 terrorists have been killed in Balochistan.”

Bugti said local policing and community-based intelligence would be key to restoring security in the province.

“We will cut our stomachs and fulfill your resources,” he added. “Because the thing that Balochistan needs the most right now is peace. And if there is peace, there will be development and other things as well.”