Heartbroken Afghans cross over into homeland from northwest border as Pakistan ramps up expulsions

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Updated 14 April 2025
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Heartbroken Afghans cross over into homeland from northwest border as Pakistan ramps up expulsions

Heartbroken Afghans cross over into homeland from northwest border as Pakistan ramps up expulsions
  • Repatriation drive of “illegal” foreign citizens began in November 2023 with over 948,870 Afghans repatriated since
  • Around 16,242 Afghan Citizen Card holders deported from Torkham border between Apr. 1-11 in latest repatriation push

Torkham, Pakistan: Muhammad Rasool stood waiting at the Torkham border crossing in northwestern Pakistan earlier this month, set to return to his homeland of Afghanistan after 45 years with only a few belongings on his back.

The journey is not one Rasool, an Afghan refugee, is making by choice. 

Earlier this year, Pakistan’s interior ministry asked all “illegal foreigners” and holders of Afghan Citizen Cards — a document launched in 2017 to grant temporary legal status to Afghan refugees — to leave the country before Mar. 31, warning that they would otherwise be deported from Apr. 1. The move is part of a larger repatriation drive of “illegal” foreign citizens that began in November 2023, with over 948,870 Afghans repatriated since, as per figures published on state broadcaster Radio Pakistan on Monday. 

The campaign was launched after a spike in militant attacks in recent years that Islamabad says is partly to blame on Afghan nationals residing in the country without offering proof. The drive is also taking place amid worsening relations with Afghanistan, whose Taliban-led government Pakistan has accused of providing sanctuary to militants who carry out cross-border attacks. Kabul denies the accusations. 

Millions of Afghans have sought refuge in Pakistan over the past four decades, fleeing successive conflicts including the Soviet invasion, a civil war and the post-9/11 US-led takeover of Kabul by the hard-line Taliban government. Thousands were born in Pakistan or left Afghanistan while they were children, and many have never even visited the country they are now forced to return to. 

Rasool, 55, is one such refugee.

“We have lived in Pakistan for 45 years,” Rasool, a daily wage laborer most of his life, told Arab News on Saturday at the Torkham Border Crossing just to the west of the historic Khyber Pass in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province that borders Afghanistan.




Afghan refugees with their belongings arrive on trucks from Pakistan at a registration centre in Takhta Pul district of Kandahar province on April 13, 2025. (AFP)

He was leaving the country with his wife, three daughters and two sons.

“We were so happy here. We are so sad that one can’t imagine.”

Rasool complained of harassment of Afghans by authorities in the days leading up to his departure for Torkham from Taxila in the eastern Punjab province where he was based in Pakistan. 

“Afghan refugees were disrespected and harassed by the police. Some of the Afghans living near me were picked up from home,” he said. “I was worried that the police would also come to my home so to save my honor, I packed my belongings and left.”

A short distance away, Muhammad Islam, a man in his mid-thirties who was waiting with his family of five for a transport vehicle to take them to Jalalabad in Afghanistan, also spoke about the fear of harassment.

“Due to the fear that our female family members would be picked up by the police, we rushed to leave for Afghanistan,” he told Arab News. 

The Pakistan government says it is ensuring the “dignified” repatriation of all illegal aliens.

“MY HEART ACHES”

As per latest figures obtained from the KP Tribal and Home Affairs Department, 500,040 illegal foreigners, mostly Afghan nationals, have been repatriated through various border crossings in the province since September 2023. Between Apr. 1-11, at least 16,242 ACC holders and 17,689 ‘illegal’ Afghan nationals have been repatriated through the Torkham border, according to the home department’s data.

Among them are many like Rasool, whose children can’t even speak the official languages of Afghanistan, Dari and Pashto, and who don’t know what lies ahead.

“They don’t know a word of Pashto, they are all worried as they don’t know the language and the place is new for them,” he said. “Where should we go? What should we do? We are worried about this.”

Sakhi Gul, a 57-year-old Afghan refugee who has worked as a bread maker in Pakistan’s Attock district for over 35 years, said he was barely ten years old when he left his homeland. 

“How should we know now where we are being sent? People are saying that a camp has been established,” Gul said. “We don’t know any place or home to go to.”

When asked what he would do in Afghanistan, he said, “I will see once I cross the border … We worked hard in Pakistan and will try to work harder in Afghanistan. At first, I will try to find work as a laborer to feed my family.”

Muhammad Islam, a man in his mid-thirties, also said his professional and personal future in Afghanistan was uncertain.

“I don’t know what I will be doing in Afghanistan. I have never seen Afghanistan. I will see what to do once I cross my family over.”

What most of the refugees do know is that they will miss the life they are leaving behind. 

Gul said his Pakistani friends and neighbors, with whom he had spent most of his life, were pained to see him leave. 

“Yesterday, they were also weeping and asking why are we going.”

Islam too said he would miss the Pakistani community he was leaving behind in the eastern Chakwal district where he had lived for several years and worked at a junkyard. His spouse and four children, one of them a baby in his wife’s lap, were accompanying him to Afghanistan.

“I miss my friends, my heart aches for them,” Islam said. “They wept with us when I was getting on the vehicle, and I also wept. My heart says that I shouldn’t go.”


Pakistan takes journalists to Azad Kashmir to rebuff Indian allegations of militant training camps

Pakistan takes journalists to Azad Kashmir to rebuff Indian allegations of militant training camps
Updated 14 sec ago
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Pakistan takes journalists to Azad Kashmir to rebuff Indian allegations of militant training camps

Pakistan takes journalists to Azad Kashmir to rebuff Indian allegations of militant training camps
  • Indian media reports alleged presence of militant training camps in Bela Noor Shah and Pir Chinasi that New Delhi planned to target over Pahalgam attack
  • New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan, Islamabad has denied the charge and called for a credible, international probe to reveal facts about the attack

Bela Noor Shah, Azad Kashmir: Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Monday led local and foreign journalist to various sites in Azad Kashmir, where India alleges Pakistan has established militant training camps, describing the allegations as a “desperate attempt” by New Delhi to divert attention from its “internal failure” in an attack in Pahalgam.
Tensions between India and Pakistan have surged to alarming levels over the attack in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam town that killed 26 tourists on Apr. 22. New Delhi has accused Islamabad of backing the perpetrators, an allegation Pakistan has vehemently denied and called for a credible, international probe to ascertain facts about the assault.
Subsequent Indian media reports alleged the presence of militant training camps in Azad Jammu and said India intended to target them in response to the Pahalgam attack. Tarar attempted to dismiss the Indian claims by taking a delegation of journalists to de facto border dividing the disputed Himalayan region to witness on-ground realities for themselves.
“There were numerous contradictions and inconsistencies in their [Indian] claims and they failed to substantiate them and we are proactively present at one of the locations India has alleged to be a terrorist camp,” Tarar told journalists at Bela Noor Shah, some 26 kilometers from Azad Kashmir’s capital of Muzaffarabad.
“The Indian allegations regarding the areas of Bela Noor Shah and Pir Chinasi in Azad Kashmir are fabricated and baseless as not only is the local population living a normal life [here], but educational institutions are [also] functioning and tourism is continuing as usual.”
Kashmir has been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan since their independence from Britain in 1947. The region is divided between the two countries, though both claim it in full and have fought two of their three wars over the disputed territory.
Since 1989, several Kashmiri groups have carried out attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan. India accuses Pakistan of supporting these groups, a charge Islamabad denies, insisting it offers only diplomatic and political support to Kashmiris.
Following the April 22 attack, public anger has swelled India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given his military “full operational freedom” to respond to the assault. There have been fears that India may conduct limited strikes close to its border with Pakistan.
Denying Pakistan’s involvement in the attack, Tarar criticized India for not providing any evidence to back up its claims and reiterated that India’s possible strikes against Pakistan will have a “forceful response.”
“Our desire for peace should not be mistaken for weakness as any Indian aggression will be met with a strong and forceful response — one they will remember for ages,” he said.
India has consistently attempted to defame Pakistan through “false propaganda” but all such efforts have failed to yield results, according to the Pakistani information minister.
It was evident from the visit of the media delegation, which was flown to Muzaffarabad from Islamabad and was later taken to the scenic town of Bela Noor Shah via jeeps.
Arab News team observed lush, serene hills of Azad Kashmir and business going on as usual in the town.
“This is a tourist spot and very peaceful area where people from all over Kashmir and Pakistan come for recreation,” Muzaffarabad Commissioner Ghuftar Hussain told Arab News at Bela Noor Shah.
Ameer Ali, a 23-year-old resident of the nearby Sawan Pani village who had come for recreation at the top of the hill, said he had never seen any militant camp in the area during his lifetime.
“I am a university student in Muzaffarabad and have frequently visited various places in the area with friends, but I have never seen any camps anywhere in these regions,” he told Arab News, adding that Kashmiris want peace, but they would fight alongside Pakistan Army if they were attacked by India.
“If India attacks us, Kashmiris will stand shoulder to shoulder with Pakistan Army and firmly resist any Indian aggression.”
Shafaat Qadri, a 45-year-old madressah teacher, said Bela Noor Shah had been nothing but a peaceful tourist spot.
“Today, I brought a visiting friend to this picnic spot who is here from Rawalakot University,” he said. “Visiting this place has been part of our routine, and if there were any suspicious activities here, they could not go unnoticed by the locals.”
Kashmiris have grown accustomed to such Indian allegations and they no longer “take them seriously,” Qadri added.


Pakistan central bank lowers key policy rate to 11%

Pakistan central bank lowers key policy rate to 11%
Updated 05 May 2025
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Pakistan central bank lowers key policy rate to 11%

Pakistan central bank lowers key policy rate to 11%
  • The decision came in the backdrop of soaring tensions with neighboring India following a deadly attack on tourists in Kashmir
  • It will be followed by International Monetary Fund’s decision on releasing $1 billion to Islamabad from its $7 billion bailout

KARACHI: Pakistan’s central bank reduced its key policy rate by 100 basis points to 11% on Monday, resuming a series of cuts that brought the rate down from a record high of 22% after a brief pause in March.
Nine of 14 analysts surveyed by Reuters expected the central bank to cuts its key rate, with three expecting a 50 bps cut and two calling for a 100 bps cut.
The decision came in the backdrop of soaring tensions with neighboring India following a deadly attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir. The nuclear-armed neighbors have announced a raft of punitive steps that aim to hurt each other economically.
It also comes ahead of an imminent International Monetary Fund (IMF) decision on releasing Islamabad’s next tranche of $1 billion from its $7 billion bailout program.
The bank had cut the rate by 1,000 basis points since June from an all-time high of 22% before a surprise decision to hold it in March, citing the risk of price rises including from increased US tariffs.
The inflation rate fell to 0.3% in April, its lowest in roughly a decade and below finance ministry estimates of 1.5% to 2%. The central bank forecasts average inflation to be in the range of 5.5% to 7.5% for the fiscal year ending June.
Pakistan’s manufacturing sector growth slowed to a seven-month low in April, with the HBL Pakistan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) easing to 51.9 from 52.7 in March, as concerns over global trade weighed due to the impact of US President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements.
New orders slumped while export orders in particular plummeted. Employment fell for a second month as firms cut costs.


‘We are not afraid’: Pakistanis at India-Pakistan border ceremony amid Kashmir tensions

‘We are not afraid’: Pakistanis at India-Pakistan border ceremony amid Kashmir tensions
Updated 05 May 2025
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‘We are not afraid’: Pakistanis at India-Pakistan border ceremony amid Kashmir tensions

‘We are not afraid’: Pakistanis at India-Pakistan border ceremony amid Kashmir tensions
  • Soldiers from both nations perform aggressive marches, avoid traditional handshake as emotions run high over standoff
  • Border crossing closed after attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi blames on Pakistan, which denies charge

At the Wagah-Attari border, which marks the final boundary between the nuclear-armed nations of India and Pakistan, the atmosphere is charged with patriotism. The sound of drums can be heard as soldiers perform a choreographed, ceremonial march, showcasing both countries’ pride.
However, the usual symbol of cooperation — a handshake between the two countries’ soldiers — is missing, and the iron gates that separate the two sides remain locked. This is in the context of tense relations between India and Pakistan, heightened by a deadly attack in Kashmir.
Despite the tension, people gather to express their feelings, celebrate their national identities, and watch the dramatic flag-lowering ceremony that has become a symbolic ritual at the border. Visitors on the Pakistani side say they are not afraid of the soaring tensions and for them, it is business as usual.
“We don’t feel any such tension. We feel that we are as safe as we used to be before,” Muhammad Luqman, a Pakistani teacher who was visiting the Wagah border, told AFP.
“The reason for this is that we feel our country’s defense is in strong hands. We don’t have any sort of doubt or fear.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given his military “full operational freedom” to respond to the attack as public anger swelled in his country after New Delhi accused Pakistan of involvement in the April 22 attack that killed 26 tourists. Islamabad has denied the allegations and called for a credible international probe into it.
On Monday, Pakistan carried out a second missile test in three days after saying it was preparing for an incursion by India.
The two nuclear-armed countries have exchanged gunfire along their de facto border in Kashmir, and there have been fears that the latest crisis between the nuclear-armed rivals, who have fought three wars, including two over the disputed region of Kashmir, could spiral into a military conflict.
“Pakistan is a brave nation. We live near the Wagah border. If there is any danger, we will be first picked up from the village, then it will be the turn of the people of the city, because we live in the [border] village,” said Muhammad Abu Bakar, a student.
“The villagers should be afraid, but the villagers are not afraid.”
The flare-up between India and Pakistan has once again alarmed world and regional powers, who have called for restraint and urged the two neighbors to resolve the crisis through dialogue.


Pakistan continues to engage foreign capitals, friendly states as tensions with India simmer over Kashmir

Pakistan continues to engage foreign capitals, friendly states as tensions with India simmer over Kashmir
Updated 05 May 2025
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Pakistan continues to engage foreign capitals, friendly states as tensions with India simmer over Kashmir

Pakistan continues to engage foreign capitals, friendly states as tensions with India simmer over Kashmir
  • Pakistan-India relations have plummeted since India accused Islamabad of an attack in the disputed Kashmir region that killed 26 tourists on April 22
  • The subsequent diplomatic flare-up, exchanges of gunfire between the two neighbors has alarmed world and regional powers, who have called for restraint

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan continues to engage foreign capitals and friendly nations as tensions simmer with India over an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 tourists on April 22, with the two nuclear-armed neighbors taking a raft of punitive measures against each other.

India has blamed Pakistan for the attack in Pahalgam resort town. Islamabad has denied involvement and asked for evidence which New Delhi has so far not publicly shared.  Both countries have since exchanged gunfire in Kashmir, taken diplomatic measures against each other, expelled citizens and ordered the border shut.

Amid soaring tensions, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi arrived in Pakistan on Monday for discussions on bilateral ties and regional developments, days after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif postponed his scheduled visit to Malaysia.

Separately, British High Commissioner Jane Marriott met Sharif at his office, where the prime minister shared Pakistan’s perspective on the prevailing situation in South Asia. Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is also on a visit to Gulf countries, including Oman and Qatar, where he is expected to brief the Gulf leaders on Pakistan's stance.

"We will demonstrate patience, we will exercise full restraint and we will not be the first one to take any escalatory move," Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar told reporters in Islamabad, following his meeting with the Iranian FM Araghchi.

"However, if India takes any adventure, any escalatory move, then we will give a befitting reply. So, that's where we stand."

Dar said Pakistan had nothing to do with the Pahalgam incident, reiterating PM Shehbaz Sharif's offer for a credible international probe into the April 22 attack.

"Our offer is very much there," he added.

In his meeting with FM Araghchi, PM Sharif shared Pakistan’s concerns over the prevailing tensions in South Asia as a result of India’s "provocative behavior" since the Pahalgam attack, according to Sharif's office.

"He categorically rejected any attempts to link Pakistan to the incident, without sharing any evidence," Sharif's office said. "He also stressed that India’s weaponization of the Indus Waters Treaty was unacceptable and a redline for the people of Pakistan."

India suspended the 1960 World Bank-mediated treaty a day after the Pahalgam attack, saying the suspension would last until "Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism." Pakistan has described the suspension of treat as an "act of war."

The flare-up and exchanges of small arms fire between India and Pakistan across their de facto border in Kashmir has alarmed world and regional powers, who have called for restraint and urged the two neighbors to resolve the crisis through dialogue. Pakistan has assured foreign capitals and friendly nations that it would not be the first one to strike, according to officials.

In his meeting with British High Commissioner Marriott, Sharif urged the United Kingdom, which enjoys good relations with both Pakistan and India, to play its part in de-escalating the situation.

"The British high commissioner thanked the prime minister for sharing Pakistan’s position and said that the UK would work closely with Pakistan and India for maintaining regional peace and security," Sharif's office said.

Also on Monday, Interior Minister Naqvi met his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani and briefed him on the prevailing regional situation.

"Pakistan has always rejected the policy of aggression. India has been offered an independent and impartial investigation into the Pahalgam incident, the truth about the incident should come before the world as to who is really responsible for it," Naqvi was quoted as saying by his ministry.

"Making baseless and illogical accusations against Pakistan is tantamount to ignoring our great sacrifices in the war against terrorism."

Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations. They have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, a region split between them, since gaining independence from the former British colonial rule in 1947.


Pakistan detects poliovirus in sewage samples from 18 districts including major cities

Pakistan detects poliovirus in sewage samples from 18 districts including major cities
Updated 05 May 2025
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Pakistan detects poliovirus in sewage samples from 18 districts including major cities

Pakistan detects poliovirus in sewage samples from 18 districts including major cities
  • Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Islamabad, Peshawar, Rawalpindi among cities where samples positive
  • Pakistan has reported seven polio cases so far this year, 74 cases were confirmed last year

PESHAWAR: The poliovirus has been detected in sewage samples from 18 districts of Pakistan, including major urban cities like Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, the national polio eradication program said on Monday.

Polio is a paralyzing disease that has no cure. Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of 5 is essential to provide children high immunity against the disease.

Pakistan has reported seven polio cases so far this year and has planned three major vaccination campaigns in the first half of 2025. Last year, 74 polio cases were confirmed in Pakistan.

“As robust poliovirus surveillance continues in Pakistan, 38 environmental samples collected from 31 districts between Apr. 7-17 were tested at the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication,” the lab said in a statement. 

“The lab confirmed detection of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in sewage samples of Loralai, Quetta, Zhob, Islamabad, Abbottabad, Bannu, DI Khan, Peshawar, Tank, North Waziristan, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Badin, Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Kashmore, Karachi, and Sukkur.”

A third nationwide campaign to vaccinate children under the age of five is scheduled from May. 26 to June 1.

In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 polio cases annually but in 2018 the number dropped to eight cases. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021. 

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the last two countries in the world where polio remains endemic.

Pakistan’s polio program began in 1994 but efforts to eradicate the virus have since been undermined by vaccine misinformation and opposition from some religious hard-liners who say immunization is a foreign ploy to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western spies. 

Militant groups also frequently attack and kill members of polio vaccine teams and security guards protecting them.