A petition has been filed in the Islamabad High Court challenging a recent notification issued by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) that affects Afghan students studying at medical institutions in Pakistan.

The petition was submitted on behalf of Afghan students by Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT), which said it is seeking legal relief for students impacted by the directive.

According to a statement issued on Tuesday, IJT chief Sahibzada Waseem Haider visited the Islamabad High Court alongside Afghan students from the Federal Medical College in Islamabad and IJT Islamabad chief Hashir Abbasi. Legal representation is being provided by Advocate Imran Shafiq and his team.

The move comes as Afghan medical students continue to challenge PMDC directives that could affect their ability to continue their studies in Pakistan.

Earlier, the Lahore High Court and the Sindh High Court granted interim relief to Afghan students through stay orders, temporarily preventing the implementation of measures affecting students enrolled in institutions across Punjab and Sindh.

“We remain hopeful that, following a detailed hearing, the students’ academic future will be safeguarded and the PMDC’s unjust notification will be reviewed,” Haider said in the statement.

He added that IJT has actively supported Afghan students and organised solidarity demonstrations at medical and dental colleges across Pakistan.

The issue has sparked concern among Afghan students studying in Pakistan, many of whom are enrolled in advanced years of their medical education and fear that changes to regulations could disrupt their studies and future careers.

The Islamabad High Court is expected to consider the petition and determine whether relief should be granted to the affected students while the case proceeds.

At least 17 Afghan migrants, including women and children, have reportedly died from severe thirst near Saravan in southeastern Iran, according to the human rights group HalVash.

The incident reportedly occurred on Thursday, September 10, in the Mak-Sukhteh area of Rutak, Saravan County. HalVash said the victims’ bodies were later transferred to a morgue in the nearby city of Khash.

Videos released by the group show people digging several graves at an unidentified location.

HalVash reported that five of the victims were members of a family from Afghanistan’s Baghlan province. They included a 45-year-old mother and her four daughters, aged 22, 18, 16 and 14. Relatives of the family live in Saravan, and a funeral prayer was expected to be held Sunday.

According to HalVash, at least six other victims were children under the age of 14.

Witnesses and relatives told the group that the migrants ran critically short of water during their journey and died of thirst. Some reportedly died within a short distance of one another.

A relative said the men travelling with the group separated from the women and children during the journey, leaving the women and children to continue without adequate access to water.

Local sources said the bodies were transferred to Khash because the Saravan morgue lacked sufficient capacity.

Four days after the incident, relatives were reportedly still working to arrange the transfer and burial of the victims.

HalVash cautioned that it could not independently verify the exact number of deaths or all details surrounding the incident. The identities of the remaining victims and the circumstances of their deaths were still under investigation.

Afghanistan and India are exploring expanded cooperation in quality control, medical supplies, medicines and food products, as Afghanistan seeks to strengthen its standards and improve access to quality products.

Hamdullah Zahid, Afghanistan’s Deputy Minister for Food and Medicine, led a delegation that visited a private laboratory in Mumbai during a trip to India.

The delegation reviewed the laboratory’s procedures for testing medicines and food products destined for export, with discussions focusing on quality, safety and technical standards.

The two sides also discussed potential cooperation in quality control, technical capacity-building and the use of the laboratory’s expertise to strengthen Afghanistan’s capabilities.

Under an agreement reached during the visit, the laboratory will submit a detailed proposal outlining possible areas of cooperation. Afghan officials will review the proposal before further technical discussions are held.

The laboratory also expressed readiness to assist Afghanistan with capacity-building, while the Ministry of Public Health will provide information needed to facilitate practical use of its technical expertise.

Focus on trade and technology

The Afghan delegation also visited a medical equipment manufacturer, a major food-processing facility and a factory producing raw materials for medical products in Gujarat.

Officials examined production processes, technology, technical capacity and quality standards at the facilities.

Discussions focused on supplying Afghanistan with medical equipment, food products and pharmaceutical raw materials, while also exploring opportunities to expand trade and make greater use of Indian industrial capacity.

The companies agreed to provide detailed lists of their products, which will be assessed against Afghanistan’s requirements to identify opportunities to supply quality products at competitive prices.

The Afghan delegation also invited representatives of the medical equipment manufacturer to visit Afghanistan to explore technology and knowledge transfer and assess the potential for producing medical equipment inside the country.

The Ministry of Public Health said the engagements could help strengthen Afghanistan’s quality-control systems while creating opportunities for technology transfer, technical capacity-building and improved access to standard health-related products.