On Tuesday, Pakistan issued an order for all illegal immigrants, including the 1.73 million Afghan nationals residing in the country, to leave voluntarily or face expulsion. This action was taken after authorities revealed that 14 out of the 24 suicide bombings that occurred in Pakistan this year were carried out by Afghan nationals.
It remains unclear how Pakistani authorities intend to ensure that these illegal immigrants leave the country or how they plan to locate and expel them.
This announcement by Islamabad has strained its relations with Kabul further, following border clashes between the two South Asian neighbors last month.
Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti declared a November 1 deadline for all illegal immigrants to leave Pakistan voluntarily or face forced expulsion. Bugti noted that 1.73 million Afghan nationals in Pakistan lack the necessary legal documents to stay, out of a total of 4.4 million Afghan refugees living in the country.
Bugti cited evidence that Afghan nationals had been involved in attacks on Pakistan, emphasizing that there was no doubt that Pakistan faced threats from within Afghanistan.
Pakistan has been a destination for Afghan refugees since the Soviet invasion of Kabul in 1979. Bugti made these statements in Islamabad after discussions among civil and military leaders, who met with the prime minister and army chief to address law and order concerns following a recent surge in militant attacks.
Violence has increased since the local Taliban militants, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a coalition of hardline Sunni Islamist militants, revoked a ceasefire with the government late last year. The TTP seeks to overthrow the Pakistani government and replace it with its strict interpretation of Islamic law.
Last week, two suicide bombings targeted religious gatherings in Pakistan, resulting in the deaths of at least 57 people. The TTP denied involvement in these attacks, but Bugti revealed that one of the suicide bombers had been identified as an Afghan national.
The Afghan border regions have also been home to operations by the Islamic State, which has been implicated in attacks in Pakistan.
The Pakistani military has launched numerous offensives against Islamist militants, primarily in the rugged mountainous areas along the Afghan border. Pakistan alleges that these militants use Afghan territory for training and planning attacks within Pakistan, a charge that Kabul rejects, considering Pakistani security matters as domestic issues.
As of now, there has been no official response from Kabul to Bugti’s statements.
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