Taliban’s Intelligence Headquarters in Pol-e Khomri Rocked by Explosion
On Thursday, local sources reported an explosion in the city of Pol-e Khomri, the capital of Baghlan province.
On Thursday, local sources reported an explosion in the city of Pol-e Khomri, the capital of Baghlan province.
According to the residents of Baghlan, the explosion happened around 6:00pm local time near the Taliban intelligence headquarters and gunfire was heard too.
There is no information about the type of the explosion and its possible casualties.
Taliban sources have not yet commented on the explosion.
As Pakistan starts nationwide deportation of immigrants without official residence documents in the country, the state of Sindh has decided to extend the refugee card of Afghans until December 31.
In an official letter, the province of Sindh has asked the Karachi police not to deport Afghans with "refugee cards".
In the letter seen by Afghanistan International, the state of Sindh has written to the Inspector General of the Sindh State Police, the Rangers security force of the state, and the Karachi Police that the issue of the renewal of the Afghan Refugee Card (POR) will be decided after December 31, 2023.
A POR card is a document issued to Afghan refugees, based on which Afghan refugees can legally stay in Pakistan.
According to the information published on the website of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, this card is valid throughout Pakistan.
The United Nations has asked all Afghans to always carry this identity card with them so that they are not to arrested.
However, on Thursday, video clips from Rawalpindi City, reached Afghanistan International showing Pakistani police detaining Afghan refugees holding UN refugee cards.
Earlier, the UN Refugee Agency office in Islamabad confirmed to Afghanistan International that there are reports about the detention of migrants with official residence documents.
Earlier, the government of Pakistan asked the immigrants without official residency documents to leave the country before November 1.
With the end of this deadline, the Ministry of Interior of Pakistan has intensified the detention and forced deportation of Afghan immigrants throughout the country.
The National Resistance Front (NRF) and Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) announced that the three young men who were shot by the Taliban in Balkh were not members of their groups.
A video clip was published of three young men who were shot and labelled as "rebels", a term that the group usually uses to refer to anti-Taliban resistance fighters.
Two reliable sources from the NRF and AFF told Afghanistan International on Thursday, that the three people shot in Balkh "were civilians".
On Wednesday morning, local media outlets reported that three members of the Afghan National Resistance Front, including the head of the northern zone of this front, were killed in a clash with the Taliban intelligence forces in the "Sarki" area of Balkh district.
Attaullah Zaid, the Taliban spokesperson for Balkh province, said that several other NRF members were also arrested.
Meanwhile, the video clip published on social networking sites show that the Taliban shot the three young men in a civilian vehicle.
In this video recorded by the Taliban, the group’s members search the vehicle for weapons.
However, in this 78-second-long video, there is no sign of the gun belonging to the people who were shot in the car.
Three aid organisations announced that around 10,000 Afghan refugees enter Afghanistan from Pakistan daily. Norwegian Refugee Council, Danish Refugee Council, and the International Rescue Committee said that these migrants had "nowhere to go”.
On Thursday, these organisations asked donor countries to increase their financial aid to meet the needs of migrants.
All three organisations asked Afghanistan's neighbouring countries to continue supporting vulnerable Afghans until the conditions for the safe return of refugees to Afghanistan are met.
In a joint statement published by these three organisations on Thursday, they said that they have seen chaotic and desperate scenes during the meeting with the deported immigrants.
Earlier, the government of Pakistan had given November 1 as the deadline for immigrants without official residency documents to leave the country. Reports show that the Ministry of Interior of Pakistan has intensified the process of detention and deportation of Afghan immigrants throughout the country.
According to the Pakistani Ministry of Interior in October, 140,322 Afghan migrants have returned to Afghanistan.
Protesters miffed with the deportation of Afghan immigrants from Pakistan blocked the Chaman-Quetta highway on Thursday.
The government of Pakistan has announced that it has started the process of detention and deportation of "illegal" Afghan immigrants.
Sources said that these protests are part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa National Awami Party's plan to hold demonstrations in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
Pakistan's Ministry of Interior has announced that today it has started the process of deportation of "illegal" Afghan immigrants.
The Pakistani media reported that more than 100 Afghan migrants were recently arrested on the outskirts of Quetta city in Balochistan province.
According to Pakistani officials, about 1.7 million Afghan immigrants live in Pakistan without residence documents.
The Pakistani government has stressed that these migrants will be detained, transferred to detention centres, and will be deported to Afghanistan.
The Pakistani government had given "illegal" immigrants until November 1 to leave the country.
The Ministry of Interior of Pakistan announced that the detention of "illegal" Afghan migrants has begun across the country.
On Thursday, Pakistani media outlets reported that more than 100 Afghan migrants had recently been detained in the suburbs of Quetta city in Baluchistan province.
It had been said that all of these detained immigrants were transferred to the migrant deportation camp, and they are going to be deported through the Chaman border with Afghanistan.
Pakistan had previously warned that Afghans without valid residency documents should voluntarily return to Afghanistan before November 1.
Pakistan's Ministry of Interior added that 140,322 Afghan refugees returned to Afghanistan "voluntarily" last month.
According to Dawn newspaper, among these immigrants, there were several Afghan prisoners who were imprisoned in Pakistan for minor crimes.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organisation for Migration have also announced that since September 15, 120,180 Afghan refugees have returned to Afghanistan through the Chaman and Torkham border crossings.
It is said that two percent of these deportees had registration documents at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The United States, the European Union, and several other countries have asked Pakistan to provide a system for registering illegal Afghans instead of their forcible deportation to Afghanistan.
Despite the widespread criticism of countries, Pakistan has announced that it will continue to deport immigrants without residence documents and will not reconsider the country’s decision.