Pakistan Plans Deportation Of Nearly 20,000 Afghans Awaiting US Resettlement

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Saturday that all suspects linked to the bombing were detained at around 3 a.m. during police operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. One Pakistani security officer was killed during the operation, he added.

Naqvi said the alleged mastermind is connected to the Islamic State group and claimed that at least 21 militant organisations, including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Islamic State, are operating from Afghan territory.

He also alleged increased financial support for militant groups, saying they previously received about $500 but now receive around $1,500, without providing evidence. Naqvi accused India of funding the groups, an allegation New Delhi has repeatedly denied.

A Pakistani security official told Reuters that the arrests were carried out in two separate intelligence operations in Nowshera and Peshawar. Authorities have not released the identities of those detained.

The arrests came one day after a suicide bombing at the Khadija tul Kubra mosque in Islamabad during Friday prayers. Pakistani officials said at least 31 people were killed and 171 others wounded in the attack, which could see the casualty toll rise.

Officials said the attacker opened fire before detonating explosives he was carrying. Islamic State later claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Pakistan’s defence minister, Khawaja Asif, said the attack had been planned and the attacker trained by Islamic State in Afghanistan.

The Afghan Taliban condemned the bombing, describing it as “contrary to Islamic and human values,” and have repeatedly rejected Pakistani accusations that militant groups operate from Afghan soil.

In a post on X, Asif said those responsible for killing worshippers in a mosque were “enemies of religion and the country,” adding that the militant involved in the attack had been present in Afghanistan.

According to Asif, Pakistani security forces confronted the attacker before he detonated explosives among the last rows of worshippers.

He added that Pakistan must eliminate what he described as “terrorist camps inside Afghanistan” and said the government would respond to the attack with full force.

The explosion occurred during Friday prayers, killing at least 31 people and injuring 169 others. Officials warned the death toll could rise.

Talal Chaudhry, Pakistan’s minister of state for interior affairs, said the attacker was not an Afghan national but had a history of travel to Afghanistan.

The explosion occurred during Friday prayers at the Khadija Kubra Mosque in the capital city.

Police and emergency responders were dispatched to the scene immediately after the blast. Authorities declared an emergency at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, the capital’s specialised clinics and several other hospitals to treat the wounded.

Officials said the explosion was carried out by a suicide attacker. No group has yet claimed responsibility.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif instructed Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to investigate the attack and identify those responsible.

President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the bombing, calling the targeting of innocent civilians “a crime against humanity.”

The US Embassy in Islamabad also condemned the attack, saying the United States would continue supporting Pakistan’s efforts to promote peace and security and remained committed to stability in the region. The embassy said the United States stands with Pakistan during this difficult time.

Reza Amiri Moghadam, Iran’s ambassador to Islamabad, described the explosion as a terrorist attack and expressed condolences to the victims’ families.

Christine Arab, UN Women’s regional director for Asia and the Pacific, told the Associated Press in Australia that Afghan women and girls face a continuing rollback of even their most basic rights.

She said a series of Taliban decrees have effectively rendered women and girls invisible.

“Everything from eliminating their right to education, limiting their ability to be in public spaces, to go to tertiary education, to access certain services. It is a cyclical issue,” Arab said.

Earlier, Australia’s foreign ministry allocated an additional $50 million to address the worsening humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.

Penny Wong, Australia’s foreign minister, said Canberra, alongside international partners, would continue legal action against the Taliban over violations of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. She also condemned what she described as the Taliban’s repressive policies, particularly towards women and girls.

Arab said it is essential that support for women and girls remains central to all humanitarian commitments. “This is a crucial moment for Australia to sustain its commitments,” she said.

She added that, under current conditions, the multilateral system and the international community’s commitment to human rights are more important than ever.

UN Women’s theme for 2026 is “Balance the Scales: For All Women and Girls,” promoting the message that all women and girls, regardless of background or identity, should be able to live safely, be heard and freely shape their futures.

Sadiq Khan, Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, said a meeting in Islamabad brought together Pakistani officials and Chinese representatives to discuss the Quadrilateral Transit Traffic Agreement between China, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

The agreement governs the movement of goods linking Pakistan’s ports with Central Asian states via Chinese territory.
Khan said reforms now under way could make the route the most efficient corridor connecting Central Asia to Pakistan’s seaports.

Pakistan’s push to expand trade ties with Central Asian countries comes as its economic exchanges with the Taliban administration in Afghanistan remain suspended. Islamabad appears to be developing alternative routes following the closure of trade with Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s prime minister said on January 20 that Islamabad had been forced to halt all trade with Afghanistan because of what he described as Kabul’s failure to act against militant groups operating from Afghan soil.