Afghan | Pakistan

Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday restrained medical colleges across Punjab from expelling Afghan students or cancelling their examination papers while hearing petitions challenging their removal from the institutions.

Security forces killed four militants, including an Afghan national, during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Kurram district.

Rights groups, opposition parties urge government to let enrolled Afghan students complete their degrees

Islamabad - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres breaking his silence has demanded that the Taliban immediately reverse its ban on Afghan women working for the UN and lift sweeping restrictions on women and girls, warning that the discriminatory policies are violating fundamental rights and obstructing Afghanistan’s.

Naqvi tells Norway FM of Afghan soil misuse

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Friday met with Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, where the two sides discussed counterterrorism cooperation, particularly the use of Afghan soil in terror attacks against Pakistan. Eide arrived in Pakistan a day earlier on a two-day visit — the first by a Norwegian foreign minister in a decade. According to a handout issued by the interior ministry, the two leaders discussed strengthening bilateral relations and the regional situation. Naqvi and Eide also agreed to improve cooperation in counterterrorism, prevention of illegal immigration, police training, and mutual legal assistance. The two sides held discussions on the situation in neighbouring Afghanistan and the activities of proscribed organisations operating from the neighbouring country. During the meeting, Eide lauded Pakistan’s “constructive and active” role in the US-Iran war. The two sides also discussed measures taken against illegal immigration to Europe from Pakistan. “Pakistan’s effective measures ...

Father after father AFP spoke to in Afghanistan about the education ban that stops their daughters from going beyond primary school choked up in despair. The pain and anguish it is causing behind closed doors is clear from interviews AFP conducted across the country, with even deeply religious fathers questioning the ruling. The Taliban authorities justify the ban — the only one of its kind in the world — on their interpretation of Islamic law. But “you will never find in the Quran that education is only for men”, said one devout father, while another — who praised the Taliban government for restoring security and reducing corruption — said he couldn’t “find any proper justification for this”. All the men — whose identities AFP is protecting — described the emotional turmoil the bar is causing, with fathers losing sleep over what to do to help their bright and frustrated daughters. Nine out of 10 Afghan men questioned in a UN survey last year said it was important for girls to go to secondary school, with nea...

• Vehicle broke down in Nimroz; group pressed on toward Iran on foot • Bodies found buried beneath sand HERAT: The bodies of 14 Afghans attempting to reach Iran were found in a scorching desert in southwestern Afghanistan, officials said on Saturday, weeks after their vehicle broke down and they set off by foot. Authorities have been searching for the group since the driver of the vehicle staggered into a village in Nimroz province, parched and exhausted, seeking help. Five bodies were found soon after, but authorities launched a hunt for 14 others who had continued the journey on foot. Nimroz is one of Afghanistan’s hottest and most arid provinces, with temperatures hovering around 45C at this time of year. The 14 bodies were found buried in sand, a source at the Nimroz provincial hospital told AFP on Saturday. Provincial government spokesman Abdul Mutawakil Tawhidi confirmed the grisly desert find on Friday. Iran is a popular destination for Afghan migrants seeking economic opportunity not available at home...

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said on Wednesday that four suspects, including officials of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), had been arrested in Karachi for their alleged involvement in making false documents for Afghan nationals. In a press release, a spokesperson for the agency identified the suspects as Nadra Assistant Director Imamul Haq, Nadra Deputy Assistant Director Fayyaz Ahmed, Junaid Ahmed, a watchman working for the authority, and a private agent Muhammad Umar Shah. He added that law enforcement agencies had seized important records and other evidence as part of the operation, adding that the scope of the investigation had been expanded. “Further significant revelations and arrests are expected during the investigation, and all facilitators and key figures linked to this network will be brought to justice,” he said. The spokesperson said that preliminary investigations showed that the suspects were involved in facilitating the issuance of fake identity documents f...

Says Delhi sponsors terrorists operating from Afghan soil FO terms Pak actions 'legitimate, proportionate' and t

Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Tahir Andrabi on Wednesday rejected India’s “preposterous statement” regarding Pakistan’s recent strikes against terrorists and their hideouts along the Afghan border. In a post on X, the FO spokesperson said Pakistan rejected the “baseless statement” by India on its “legitimate, targeted and proportionate actions” against terrorist infrastructure in Afghanistan. “This preposterous statement has been made by a country that has historically interfered in and undermined the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbouring countries, in contravention of the UN Charter, and continues to suppress the right to self-determination of the Kashmiris in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, in violation of the relevant UN resolutions,” he said. “India has also been actively aiding and sponsoring terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil against Pakistan, in violation of the relevant UN Security Council sanctions regime, and continues to play the role of a regional spoil...

Foreign Office protests use of Afghan soil for cross-border terrorism

Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said on Monday that the Afghan chargé d’affaires was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mofa) and issued a strong demarche over the terrorist attack on a Rangers facility in Karachi. On Saturday night, terrorists attacked the local headquarters of the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) in Karachi’s Gulistan-i-Jauhar area, during which three security personnel were martyred and four were injured, according to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). ISPR said the attack was carried out by terrorists “belonging to Indian proxy Jamaatul Ahrar” (JuA), adding that three terrorists were killed in retaliatory action while one was arrested, whom it identified as an Afghan national. Andrabi confirmed Islamabad’s summoning of the envoy in a statement on Monday, in response to media queries regarding Pakistan’s demarche to the Afghan Taliban regime. He added that a “similar demarche” was conveyed by Pakistan’s Ambassador Ubaidur Rehman Nizamani to the Afghan Ministry of Fore...

The Ministry of Interior on Sunday issued a directive to immediately arrest any Afghan national “found residing in Pakistan without a valid visa” from July 10, 2026. In a notification addressing the chief secretaries of all provinces, as well as those of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and the chief commissioner of Islamabad Capital Territory, the ministry said that the directive referred to the decisions taken during a review meeting on the Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan (IFRP) on June 1, 2026. It said that during the meeting, “all provincial governments, special area governments and the ICT Administration were directed to expedite the repatriation/deportation of Afghan nationals, including visa overstay cases, and to ensure strict implementation of the IFRP”. “With effect from July 10, 2026, any Afghan national found residing in Pakistan without a valid visa shall be arrested immediately,” the notification said. It added that the necessary directions might, therefore, be issued to all de...

Five injured in Afghan cross-border shelling

BAJAUR: Two children and a woman were killed while three others were injured when mortar shells fired from across the Afghan border hit a house in the Kitkot village of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district on Wednesday night, security sources said. The sources held the Afghan Taliban responsible for the firing, terming it an act of unprovoked aggression. They said the Afghan Taliban had been trying to get a formation of Fitna al Khawarij to infiltrate into Pakistan during the past few days. But the attempts were foiled due to timely action by the army, the sources said, adding that the Afghan Taliban then resorted to targeting the civilian population in Pakistan. Fitna al Khawarij is a term that the state has designated for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP). According to security sources, the gun position from where the mortar shells were fired had been destroyed in retaliatory action by the army. They said that all posts of the Afghan Taliban near Bajaur were being targeted in the retaliatory action, during...

ISLAMABAD: A police search operation targeting Afghan residents in Islamabad turned violent when officers were attacked, resulting in injuries to four officers and the arrest of 23 people who now face terrorism charges, authorities said. The clash erupted in the Sarai Kharboza area when residents resisted the operation, according to an FIR filed at the Golra Police Station. The report, lodged by Assistant Sub-Inspector Saqib Mehmood, alleges that a group led by a suspect identified as Mubeen abducted a police official, held him inside a house, and then set the building on fire. Attackers also snatched a submachine gun from an officer and opened fire with the “intent to kill,” the formal complaint stated. The 23 individuals arrested in connection with the incident are being investigated under multiple statutes, including Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act. A team from the Counter Terrorism Department has launched a wider operation to find and apprehend additional suspects who fled the scene, police said. In a...

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court temporarily barred law enforcement agencies (LEAs) on Friday from repatriating an Afghan family whose asylum case for resettlement in a third country through the UN’s refugee agency is pending. A bench comprising Justice Waqar Ahmad and Justice Farah Jamshed sought replies from the respondents, including the federal interior ministry, on a petition filed by an ex-serviceman under the former Afghan government. He was ousted from Afghanistan along with his family members, including his wife and three children, in 2021. The petitioners maintained they would face persecution if sent back to Afghanistan. Advocate Saifullah Muhib Kakakhel represented the petitioners and contended that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had recommended to the government to allow them to temporarily stay in Pakistan as their case for resettlement in a third country was pending. He referred to a letter issued by the refugee agency on Jan 27, 2025 for the petitioner. Advocate Kak...

The organized return of Afghan refugees from across Pakistan is ongoing, with hundreds of individuals crossing back daily through the Chaman Border.

The Federal Investigation Agency said on Sunday it has arrested an official of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) for his alleged “involvement” in issuing fake identity cards to Afghan nationals in Karachi. As per a statement by an FIA spokesperson, the agency’s officials conducted a raid in the Metroville SITE area, where two Afghan nationals were arrested and found to be possessing “illegal Pakistani identity documents”. The statement added that upon further investigation, it surfaced that a Nadra official, identified as Furqan Ahmed Khan Durrani, was “involved” in approving Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) issued to the two Afghan nationals. Durrani was arrested in a subsequent raid carried out in Karachi’s Nursery area. The FIA statement said that action has been taken against the suspects under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947. It added that FIA has obtained a three-day physical remand of the “arrested suspects” and further investigation wa...