Pakistan has issued a directive for all illegal immigrants, including 1.73 million Afghan nationals, to leave the country or face expulsion, following revelations that 14 of the 24 suicide bombings in the nation this year were carried out by Afghan nationals.
Authorities have not yet disclosed the methods they intend to employ to ensure the departure of illegal immigrants or how they will identify and expel them.
This move by Islamabad signifies a further deterioration in its relations with Kabul, which had soured following border clashes between the two South Asian neighbors last month.
Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti declared, “We have given them a deadline of November 1,” adding that all illegal immigrants must depart voluntarily or face forcible expulsion after this date.
Bugti revealed that approximately 1.73 million Afghan nationals residing in Pakistan lack the necessary legal documents to stay, and there are a total of 4.4 million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan.
He stated, “There is no dispute that we are under attack from within Afghanistan, and Afghan nationals are involved in attacks against us. We have evidence.”
Pakistan has been host to the largest influx of Afghan refugees since the Soviet invasion of Kabul in 1979.
Bugti made these remarks in Islamabad after a meeting between civil and military leaders with the prime minister and army chief to discuss law and order in the wake of a recent surge in militant attacks.
The violence has escalated notably since the local Taliban militants, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella group of hardline Sunni Islamist militants, abandoned a ceasefire with the government late last year.
Additionally, the Islamic State operates in Afghan border regions and has been implicated in attacks within Pakistan.
The Pakistani military has conducted several offensives against Islamist militants, primarily in the rugged mountainous region along the Afghan border, asserting that these actions have compelled militants to seek refuge in Afghanistan.
Islamabad alleges that these militants employ Afghan territory for training fighters and orchestrating attacks within Pakistan, a claim that Kabul refutes, categorizing Pakistani security as a domestic matter.
In response to Pakistan’s announcement, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid issued a statement on X, deeming Pakistan’s treatment of Afghanistan migrants as unacceptable.
He called upon the Pakistani side to reconsider its plan, emphasizing, “Afghan refugees are not implicated in Pakistan’s security problems. As long as they leave Pakistan voluntarily, that country should accommodate them.”
