Terror Threats From Afghanistan Still Unresolved, Says SCO Chief

The Neue Zürcher Zeitung said Switzerland resumed engagement in March after a four-year absence. The new office is part of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation under the Foreign Ministry.

Swiss diplomat Eric Marclay, who heads the office, told the newspaper the move has already shown positive results and argued that the best way to support Afghans is by maintaining a presence in the country. He leads a team of five Swiss staff and 10 Afghan employees, including three women approved by the Taliban to work with the office.

Switzerland closed its mission in Kabul in 2021 after the Taliban takeover, shifting consular services to its embassy in Pakistan. Humanitarian assistance, however, continued and has since focused on emergency relief.

Swiss officials said support for women and girls remains a priority. Switzerland currently funds about 140 Afghan women’s organisations that provide services ranging from aid for victims of violence to selling handicrafts.

Marclay noted the Taliban have allowed some women-focused projects to continue despite widespread restrictions. He said the Kabul office is strictly humanitarian and separate from political engagement.

The office’s opening comes as Switzerland invited four Taliban representatives to Geneva last week to help verify the identities of 13 Afghan asylum seekers, 11 of whom had been convicted of crimes and are due for deportation. Refugee rights groups have criticised the cooperation as conferring legitimacy on the Taliban, though Swiss conservatives say it will help facilitate removals.

Marclay also warned that mass expulsions of Afghans from Pakistan and Iran could deepen the humanitarian crisis. He highlighted projects such as irrigation schemes with the Aga Khan Foundation that aim to improve livelihoods and give young Afghans reasons to remain in the country.

In a statement Tuesday, security officials said a TTP cell intended to use a car bomb on Defence Day, set for 5 September. They said an operation on the outskirts of the capital led to the arrest of a senior TTP commander, the Afghan suicide attacker and five other militants accused of planning the attack.

Officials said the Afghan bomber had received training at the “Al-Farooq Fidayee” camp in Afghanistan. The group had rented a house in Tarnol, outside Islamabad, to use as a hideout, and had conducted reconnaissance in parts of the city in July to select targets, according to authorities.

Security officials warned the planned assault could have mirrored a deadly TTP attack in March on a military zone in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, when militants used a car bomb and a coordinated assault in an attempt to breach a secure compound.

The Pakistani army said Afghan nationals took part directly in that operation, which left 34 people dead, including five soldiers, 13 civilians and 16 TTP fighters, among them four suicide bombers. Another 32 people were wounded.

Brig. Gen. Abbasali Mohammadian said the operation to remove Afghans without legal residency permits is ongoing, with between 700 and 800 people identified daily across the capital. He noted that while 70,000 foreign nationals have so far been rounded up in Tehran, the number ultimately confirmed as undocumented is lower.

Iranian officials commonly use the term “foreign nationals” to refer to migrants, particularly Afghans.

Mohammadian added that a significant number of Afghans have also left Tehran voluntarily due to unemployment and tighter monitoring. He said the presence of undocumented migrants in public spaces, including Azadi Square and city parks, has declined since the campaign began.

The police chief warned that employing undocumented foreigners in businesses, especially in food outlets, supermarkets and restaurants, is a criminal offence and that establishments found in violation would be sealed. He said hiring foreign workers is only permitted if they hold valid documents and have completed required health checks.

According to Mohammadian, the initiative is part of Iran’s national plan to deport two million undocumented migrants by the end of the year, with Tehran assigned a specific quota.

The US Embassy for Afghanistan, now based in Doha, announced the change on Thursday in a brief statement confirming Decker’s departure. Decker had served for years as chargé d’affaires and oversaw the mission during the tumultuous period following the collapse of Afghanistan’s Western-backed government in 2021. The US Embassy in Kabul remains closed.

Brown has served as deputy chief of mission for Afghanistan since November 2023. His biography, released by the embassy, describes him as a career diplomat specialising in counterterrorism, political-military affairs, and combating transnational and financial crimes, as well as political and economic issues.

Before his current role, he was deputy director of the Office of Analysis for Terrorism, Narcotics, and Crime in the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research.

The committee will use data from various institutions to determine the locations of Afghan refugees and share the information with police to implement the deportation plan, according to Dawn newspaper.

Members of the committee include the District Officer of the Rawalpindi Special Branch, the Deputy Superintendent of Police Security Rawalpindi, representatives from the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON), the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), the Intelligence Bureau and other intelligence agencies.

The government has previously developed a comprehensive strategy to expedite the deportation of Afghans with PoR cards, instructing senior security officials to ensure their “voluntary” return without delay.

Forced deportations of PoR cardholders are scheduled to begin on 1 September. Dawn reported that all relevant agencies must identify PoR holders and submit their findings to the Interior Ministry.

Control rooms in various regions will be reactivated, and a complaints unit with a dedicated hotline will be established to address grievances related to the deportation process.

This move comes as Pakistan continues to deport Afghan migrants. Reports indicate that more than 30,000 undocumented Afghans have already been identified and sent back to Afghanistan through operations by border police and the Quetta district administration.

According to aid groups, on average, one Afghan migrant child is expelled from Iran and Pakistan every 30 seconds. Save the Children says more than 800,000 Afghan children have been forced to return from the two countries so far this year.