Two officer-rank Afghans serving in Pakistan Army among those expelled to Afghanistan

Pakistan disclosed on Tuesday that two Afghan nationals serving in the army at the rank of officer were among those banished from the nation as part of its campaign against undocumented immigrants.

The disclosure was made one day after tensions between Islamabad and Kabul erupted as a result of Pakistan Air Force operations conducted throughout the night that killed eight women and children and targeted armed organizations that were holed up in border regions.

Following a string of terror strikes, Pakistan has publicly expressed its suspicions that the Afghan Taliban’s breakaway group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) may have been involved. The nation has pushed the Afghan government to act against the TTP and its allies on several occasions.

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Conversely, starting October 31 last year, Pakistan has initiated an effort to remove the unauthorized Afghan settlers from the nation.

Speaking to a private TV channel, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif insisted that there hasn’t been any additional inflow of refugees from Afghanistan at the state level, although there have occasionally been militant efforts at infiltration.

The defense minister emphasized the porous nature of the Pakistan-Afghan border, stressing how simple it is for people to enter Pakistani territory, gain legal paperwork, and even be recruited into the armed forces, according to The Express Tribune newspaper.

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“As the minister of defence, I signed two or three files in which Afghan recruits were discharged, one of them was a Captain and one was a Lieutenant,” Asif said.

Referring to terrorists affiliated with the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Afghanistan, Asif said the vast majority reside in Afghanistan while 3,000-4,000 militants were brought to Pakistan for ‘resettlement’ during the government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

“We also briefed the National Assembly on the issue,” he said.

Stressing the need to address the issue collaboratively with the Afghan government, the minister cited a visit to Kabul during the previous tenure of his party, where the involvement of Afghan nationals in terrorist attacks in Pakistan was discussed and evidence was presented.

Tensions flared on Monday between Islamabad and Kabul following overnight raids by the Pakistan Air Force. Pakistan said the attack had targeted armed groups hiding out in border regions. The Taliban claimed eight women and children were killed in the strikes, which came merely days after a militant attack killed seven Pakistani soldiers, including two officers.

Afghanistan’s interim government claimed the PAF aircraft had hit the houses of “ordinary people” in Paktika and Khost provinces.

“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which has a long experience of freedom struggle against the superpowers of the world, does not allow anyone to invade its territory,” said Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid in a released a statement.

In the 1980s, millions of Afghans fled to neighbouring Pakistan during the Soviet occupation of their country. The numbers witnessed a spike after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.

An estimated 1.7 million Afghans, including almost 1.4 million Afghans registered as refugees, had been living in Pakistan when authorities announced its nationwide crackdown, saying that anyone without proper documents had to leave the country by October 31 or else get arrested.

(With agency inputs)