Afghanistan’s Taliban government has condemned Pakistan’s plan to evict hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees and migrants, calling it “unacceptable” and denying Islamabad’s security concerns.
Pakistan’s caretaker government expressed its concern over the threat that the roughly two million Afghans in the country allegedly pose to security following a meeting of civil and military leaders on Tuesday. The agenda covered a review of the country’s law-and-order situation after two suicide bombings killed at least 57 people on Friday.
According to Pakistan’s caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti, Afghan nationals carried out 14 out of the 24 suicide bombings in Pakistan this year, including those last week which reportedly involved one Afghan. Bugti also accused India’s intelligence agency of being involved in the attacks.
As a result, the caretaker government set a deadline of 1 November for all “illegal immigrants” to leave Pakistan or else face expulsion. Critics say that this is a veiled threat directed specifically at Afghan refugees and migrants.
The Taliban government in Kabul condemned the Pakistani plan. The movement’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on X yesterday: “The behaviour of Pakistan against Afghan refugees is unacceptable. The Pakistani side should reconsider its plan. Afghan refugees are not involved in Pakistan’s security problems. As long as they leave Pakistan voluntarily, that country should tolerate them.”
Source : MEMO
