The government has released an amount of Rs 1.4 billion for National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta), State Minister for Interior Baligh-ur-Rehman told a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control on Tuesday.

He claimed that serious steps were being taken to strengthen Nacta in order to effectively counter the challenge of terrorism. He added that the government has released Rs1.4bn out of the Rs1.8bn allocated for Nacta and two buildings have been provided for its use.

The meeting hailed the efforts of law enforcement agencies in combating the menace of terrorism and condemned the recent wave of terrorist activities in the country.

The committee's chairman, Senator Rehman Malik, said that the soil of Afghanistan is being used against Pakistan and stressed the need to follow agreements signed for peace between the countries.

He added that entire nation supports the efforts of armed forces in destroying sanctuaries of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar in Afghanistan.

The meeting also discussed the visa issuance procedure for foreign nationals and directed the Ministry of Interior to maintain a complete record of those foreigners coming or staying in the country. It also discussed the difficulties being faced to get CNICs in various districts of Balochistan.

NADRA officials also informed the meeting that an 18-member parliamentary committee is reviewing the issue of blocking CNICs of various citizens and would direct NADRA regarding the modalities to resolve the issue.