Mingora, Feb. 23 : All boys' and some girls' schools reopened in the Swat valley on Monday following a permanent ceasefire between the Pakistan Government and Taliban, but only forty percent students turned up amid security fears.

"Only 40 per cent of students showed up for school. This is because of the recent (unstable) situation. Another reason is that many families are still frightened and thousands more left the valley because of the fighting," said Ziauddin Yusufzai, the spokesman for the private schools association.

Khatkar Kalan (Punjab), Feb 23 : Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday termed Pakistan as the epicenter of terrorism in the world, and said Islamabad has been forced by the Indian policy to admit that its soil was being used for terrorist attacks on India.

WANA (Pakistan), Feb. 23 : Three Waziristan based factions of the Pakistani Taliban have announced the formation of a new outfit -- Shura Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen
(SIM).

The decision came after heads of three Taliban factions met at a remote destination in Waziristan. The meeting included representatives of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan from South Waziristan, the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group in North Waziristan and the Mulla Nazir Group in South Waziristan.

The meeting lasted for three days and after that, the participants agreed to form the `Shura Ittehad-ul-Mujahiden', an announcement said.

Quetta, Feb. 23 : The Balochistan Liberation United Front (BLUF) has denied killing abducted United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) provincial head John Solecki.

The News quoted the BLUF spokesman, as saying that the rumors were false alarm as Solecki was `still alive and absolutely fine'.

He also quashed the reports of making phone call to press club, and informing them about the killing of the abducted UNHCR official.

Earlier, unknown persons had called up the Quetta Press Club claiming that Solecki had been killed and his body would be found within a couple of hours.

Wagah border (Amritsar), Feb. 23 : While diplomatic circles in India and Pakistan are engaged in formally getting the suspended composite dialogue back on track, peaceniks of both countries are doing their bit to remind one and all that peace and brotherhood are key to an improved future.

Noted peacenik and journalist Kuldip Nayyar has once again attempted to break the logjam on confidence building measures.

New Delhi, Feb 23 : External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said India is ready to cooperate with Pakistan, but underlined that the request should come through official channels only.

Talking to reporters here, Mukherjee said, "Whatever information we get from Pakistan, we respond to it. But information must be made available through official channels and not through media."