Afghan | Pakistan

Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said on Thursday that a man arrested by the US police last week in Delaware after he was found in possession of a handgun, ammunition and written plans for an attack was not of Pakistani origin and was an Afghan. “He is not [a] Pakistani national or [of] Pakistan origin. He is an Afghan, spent a few years as a refugee [in Pakistan] and then went to the US, where he spent most of his life,” Andrabi said in a statement shared with journalists. His clarification came after several media reports, including those from Indian and American news outlets, identified the suspect as a man of Pakistani origin. A USA Today report said the arrested man, Luqman Khan, was a Pakistan-born US citizen, who was arrested on November 24. Similarly, reports by the New York Post and India’s Hindustan Times and Times of India, among others, also identified him as a Pakistani immigrant. According to a report by The Associated Press from earlier today, which also does not identify Khan as ...

An Afghan man has been charged in Texas with threatening to build a bomb and carry out a suicide attack, United States officials said on Tuesday, as the Trump administration vows a crackdown on Afghan migrants after a deadly shooting. Mohammad Dawood Alokozay, 30, of Fort Worth, allegedly made the threats in a November 23 video that he shared on TikTok, X and Facebook, the Justice Department said in a statement. In the video, Alokozay allegedly praises the Taliban and threatens to carry out a suicide attack on Americans. “Thanks to public reports of a threatening online video, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force apprehended this individual before he could commit an act of violence,” FBI Dallas special agent in charge Joseph Rothrock said. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said Alokozay “came into America during the Biden administration and, as alleged, explicitly stated that he came here in order to kill American citizens”. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted of making a threatening interstate commu...

Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Monday announced that Pakistan is intensifying efforts to deport illegal Afghan nationals from the country.

AFGHAN refugees return to Afghanistan after deportation.—Dawn/file ISLAMABAD: Afghan refugees, awaiting resettlement in the US, have urged the Trump administration to resume the programme, saying that they were living in Pakistan under extreme hardship and constant fear of deportation. The statement from the Afghan P1/P2 case holders came days after the US administration abruptly halted the processing of all immigration requests from Afghan nationals indefinitely after the shooting of two National Guard soldiers near the White House. “We, the Afghan allies and partners of the United States with completed P1/P2 cases, express our deep concern and urgent plea for assistance. Our cases were fully processed, and we were awaiting our flight dates when, on January 20, 2025, the programme was suspended without explanation,” the statement shared with the media said. “For more than three years, we have been living in Pakistan under extreme hardship and constant fear,” it said, while also condemning the Washington atta...

Authorities investigating the 24 November suicide attack on the Federal Constabulary (FC) Headquarters in Peshawar have confirmed that all three attackers were Afghan nationals.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has said that Afghan forces open fire at Pakistani checkposts across the border to facilitate the infiltration of terrorists into the country. He made the comments during a briefing with journalists on November 25, a video of which was released by the ISPR on Friday evening. “Borders are always mutually guarded. Both countries [guard] them. Now, on the other side is such a country whose posts first engage your posts through fire, and an exchange begins. And then they have them (terrorists) pass through the gaps in between,” Lt Gen Chaudhry said. The DG ISPR said one would barely find any “administration” on the borders in terrorism-prone areas, except in “hardly five to 10 per cent” of the areas. “Go to Tirah, Khyber; you will not find any governance. Neither will you find any courts, nor any departments that deal with law enforcement and writ of the government.” The ISPR chief also pointed out that villages and populati...

An Afghan national accused of shooting two National Guard members will be charged with first-degree murder, a US official said Friday, after one of the soldiers died of her wounds as Donald Trump pledged to suspend migration from “third-world countries.” The announcement marks an escalation in charges facing the assailant, identified as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who the US media said was part of the “Zero Units” — a CIA-backed Afghan paramilitary force. “There are certainly many more charges to come, but we are upgrading the initial charges of assault to murder in the first degree,” Jeanine Pirro, the attorney for Washington, DC, told the Fox News programme ‘Fox & Friends’. “It is a premeditated murder. There was an ambush with a gun toward people who didn’t know what was coming.” Pirro’s announcement comes after Attorney General Pam Bondi pledged on Thursday to “seek the death penalty” against Lakanwal, describing him as a “monster.” Pirro said Lakanwal opened fire with a .357 Smith and Wesson revolv...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police (IG) Zulfiqar Hameed on Tuesday said the perpetrators of yesterday’s suicide attack on the Federal Constabulary (FC) Headquarters in Peshawar were likely Afghan citizens. Investi­gators and intelligence agencies are hunting for facilitators and support networks behind the attack, which saw three personnel embrace martyrdom and 12 sustain injuries. The attack, which began after a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance, was swiftly repulsed as personnel engaged and shot his two accomplices dead before they could enter the installation to inflict any major damage. Questioned about the progress of the investigation and whether any evidence had come to the fore about the assailants being Afghan citizens, IG Hameed said: “We are saying this because, based on the evidence so far, when someone does not have a citizenship record, they are assumed to be Afghan or something similar.” He confirmed that authorities had identified the location where the terrorists spen...

A Pakistani diplomat in Afghanistan met a key Afghan governor amid tensions over rising terror incidents in Pakistan, saying efforts were underway to thaw bilateral ties, according to Afghan state media and Pakistani sources who spoke to Dawn. The meeting was held hours after three Federal Constabulary men were martyred in a suicide attack on the force’s headquarters in Peshawar’s Saddar area this morning. Security forces quickly neutralised the attackers. This was the first high-level contact in months between the Pakistani Consul General in Jalalabad, Shafqatullah Khan and Nangarhar Governor Mullah Muhammad Naeem Akhund. Akhund is an important Taliban leader and is considered a confidant of Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. Governor Akhund has previously served as deputy minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs and deputy minister of Civil Aviation during the Taliban’s first government from 1996-2001. He had played a key role in the Taliban’s military commission during the 20-year war against the ...

The terrorists who attacked the Frontier Constabulary (FC) Headquarters on Monday morning have been identified as Afghan nationals, according to an initial police report.

RAWALPINDI: After observing poor police performance, the Rawalpindi police have formed a special task force capable of detaining Afghan nationals illegally residing in the district and shifting them to the holding centres on a daily basis for their repatriation. According to official sources, the task force comprises 13 special teams each having four personnel, one detective foot constable and one official each from the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), security branch and the Special Branch field staff. Mohammad Saifullah will be heading the Pirwadhai police station team, Waqar Haider Ratta Amral, Shafiqul Hasnain will be heading the Taxila police team, Gulzar Hussain police station Wah Cantt, Omer Farooq police station Saddar Wah Cantt, Azhar police station Mandra, Shahid Jamil police station Jatli, Shahid Mehmood Rawat police station and Mohammad Tasleem police station Saddar Barooni. Likewise, Mohammad Faizan will be heading the team of police station Dhamial, Yasir Iqbal Chontra team, Naeem Raj Wali po...

The information ministry on Thursday said that all terrorists involved in the attack on Cadet College Wana in South Waziristan were Afghan citizens. Security forces confirmed a day ago that they had successfully foiled a terrorist attack on Cadet College Wana, killing all the attackers after an intense clearance operation. The attackers had targeted the main gate of the college on Monday evening and gained entry to the educational institution, but a timely response from security forces averted a major tragedy. Government ministers had linked the attack to Afghanistan and said it was orchestrated from there. “The attack on Cadet College Wana was planned and controlled from Afghanistan. The attack was planned in Afghanistan by kharji Zahid and the final approval was given by kharji Noorwali Mehsud. All the khwarij who attacked Cadet College Wana were Afghan citizens. The equipment for this attack was provided from Afghanistan, which included American-made weapons,” said the information ministry in a statement t...

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi revealed on Thursday that Afghan nationals were involved in the recent suicide bombing in Islamabad and the terrorist attack on Wana Cadet College.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) peace jirga, comprising stakeholders from the province, on Wednesday unanimously demanded that the federal government prioritise negotiations with Afghanistan and consult the KP government over Afghan policy. The jirga, organised by the KP government, demanded a provincial action plan, reopening of all trade routes with Afghanistan, and also reducing tensions between the KP and federal governments. The peace jirga had been called by the KP government to discuss the law and order situation in KP and discuss strategies for re-establishing peace in the province. At the previous jirga held in the Khyber district on October 25, CM Afridi had warned against launching any new military operation in the tribal districts. Today’s gathering, chaired by KP Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, was attended by former governors, chief ministers, tribal elders, lawmakers, representatives of all the political parties in KP — both from the provincial and National Assembly — legal experts, business c...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that Kabul must understand that lasting peace could only be achieved by reining in terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil. “Afghanistan must understand that lasting peace can only be realised by reining in Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and other terrorist groups operating from Afghan territory,” Shehbaz said while addressing the Inter-Parliamentary Speakers’ Conference in Islamabad. In his remarks, the premier said that the theme of the conference, “Peace, Security and Development”, could not be more timely and relevant. He added that the theme was particularly resonant for Pakistan, saying that the country had always advocated for peace through dialogue and diplomacy. “We firmly believe that peace and security form the foundation of sustainable national and regional development,” he said. “The true value of peace is most profoundly understood when we are confronted with the conflicts that continue to plague our world,” he said. The premier especially called att...

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Peshawar Zone has thwarted an attempt to fraudulently obtain Pakistani citizenship, arresting an Afghan national and three accomplices involved in the forgery.

ISLAMABAD: The number of Afghan nationals arrested and detained in Pakistan surged by 146 per cent in a single week, a spike linked to the reopening of border crossings, according to a joint report by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). A total of 7,764 Afghan nationals were arrested and detained in the week ending Nov 1, a significant increase from the previous week, the report said. Of those arrested between Oct 26 and Nov 1, Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders and undocumented Afghans accounted for 77pc, while Proof of Registration (PoR) card holders represented the remaining 23 pc, it added. The report noted that 86pc of the arrests and detentions occurred in Balochistan. Across the country, the top three districts for arrests and detentions between Jan 1 and Nov 1, 2025, were Chagi, Attock and Quetta. Links the surge to reopening of border crossings; reveals Balochistan is epicentre of the crackdown The rate of returns and deportations also rose sharply in ...

Pakistan on Thursday “strongly rejected” claims made by Afghanistan that Islamabad instigated a border clash in the Chaman area, stating that firing started from the Afghan side and that the situation is under control. This development comes as Islamabad and Kabul are having talks in Istanbul to expand a ceasefire called after five days of border clashes last month. In a post on X, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting strongly rejected the allegations coming from Kabul. “Firing was initiated from the Afghan side, to which our security forces responded immediately in a measured and responsible manner,” the ministry wrote. It added that the situation was brought under control thanks to the “responsible action by Pakistani forces” and emphasised that the ceasefire remains intact. “Pakistan remains committed to ongoing dialogue and expects reciprocity from Afghan authorities,” the post concluded. Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid levelled allegations that Pakistani forces opened fire in the S...

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Sunday said that with the establishment of a joint monitoring and verification mechanism, the onus would be on Kabul to take action against terrorists using Afghan soil. A second round of discussions between Pakistani and Afghan Taliban delegations had began in Istanbul on October 25, following days of border hostilities, but Islamabad’s long-standing concern over terror attacks emanating from Kabul remained a major point of contention, resulting in a stalemate. A breakthrough came after Turkiye and Qatar salvaged the dialogue process for the second time in less than a week, following Pakistan’s announcement on Oct 29 that the talks had “failed” and that its negotiators were preparing to return home. The talks produced a three-point understanding — the continuation of the ceasefire, the establishment of a monitoring and verification mechanism to ensure peace, and penalties for violations. The operational details of that mechanism are expected to be finalised when the “p...

The Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan was reopened on Friday after 20 days, but only to facilitate the deportation of undocumented Afghan residents from Pakistan, officials confirmed.