National Assembly resumed its session at the Parliament House in Islamabad today with Deputy Speaker Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah in the chair.

Responding to a Calling Attention Notice, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said the Foreign Office is actively pursuing the release and repatriation of ten Pakistani citizens who have been taken hostage by pirates in Somalia.

He further said that three rounds of talks have so far been held with the hostage-takers, and all possible efforts are being made to secure the early release of the hostages.

Responding to another Calling Attention Notice, Minister for National Food Security and Research, Rana Tanveer Hussain informed the House that the provincial governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have banned the use of urea following reports of its misuse in the preparation of explosives in some terrorist incidents.

The Minister said around 300,000 metric tons of urea is consumed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, accounting for about 4.8 percent of the country's total urea consumption.

He said the government is cognizant of the importance of urea for agriculture and has therefore decided to prevent its misuse without affecting its availability for farmers.

Rana Tanveer said a decision has been taken to introduce an effective track-and-trace system for urea to monitor its movement and prevent its misuse.

He said a committee has been constituted to formulate a track-and-trace mechanism for urea. The committee has been directed to submit its report within one month.

Meanwhile, bills were introduced in the House.

These include; "The Hyderabad Institute for Technology and Management Sciences (Amendment) Bill, 2026", "The Seed (Amendment) Bill, 2026", "The Employees' Old-Age Benefits (Amendment) Bill, 2026", "The Natural Gas (Development Surcharge) (Amendment) Bill, 2026", "The National University of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill, 2026", "The Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (Amendment) Bill, 2026" and "The Dock Workers (Regulation of Employment) (Repeal) Bill, 2026."

The Chair referred the bills to the standing committees concerned.

The House will now meet tomorrow at two in the afternoon.