Unwelcome Afghans quit Pak battle zone

The deportation order for the displaced Afghans in the lawless northwestern region of Bajaur came after a deadline set for them to go back to their homeland expired on Sunday, security officials said.

“On the orders of the Interior Ministry we have launched a crackdown against Afghan refugees who did not leave the area,” senior government official Abdul Haseeb told AFP.

He said most of the Afghans were in Bajaur illegally, having sneaked back in across the porous border around two years after returning to Afghanistan under a UN-backed repatriation programme.

“But there are also reports about Afghan refugees’ involvement in militant and anti-social activities, that is why they were being expelled,” Haseeb said.

Pakistani security forces have sealed shops owned by Afghans, he said, adding: “There will be no extension in the deadline.”

Meanwhile, Afghan refugees were flowing over the border from a Pakistani battle zone Tuesday after officials accused them of links with Taliban militants and ordered them out, police said.

Pakistani authorities have told Afghans living in the Bajaur tribal region to go back to their homeland and quit an area where troops have been fighting a bloody war with insurgents.

Bacha Khan, a police official at the Toorwandi border post in Bajaur, told an American news agency on Tuesday that refugees had been crossing steadily into Afghanistan, while others had moved to other parts of Pakistan.

He had no figures for how many Afghans had left since officials distributed leaflets in Bajaur last week telling them to go.