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Afghan embassy urges Pakistan to reopen crossings for returning refugees
The Embassy of Afghanistan in Islamabad has called on Pakistan to immediately reopen Durand Line crossings and halt forced deportations, warning of a growing humanitarian crisis affecting Afghan refugees stranded across the country.
In a statement on Thursday, Sardar Ahmad Shakeeb, Ambassador of Afghanistan to Pakistan, said that the Torkham and Chaman-Boldak crossing points have remained closed for nearly twenty days following recent unrest, bringing trade, transit, and the movement of people between the two countries to a complete standstill.
“The condition of stranded Afghan refugees has deteriorated severely,” the ambassador said, noting that roughly 10,000 Afghan refugees have already been arrested and transferred to holding centers, while thousands more remain stranded in vehicles along major routes, fearing arrest.
According to the Embassy, convoys of refugees—particularly from Punjab Province—are stuck along the road from Jamrud to Torkham in nearly 400 trucks, facing harsh conditions including cold weather, lack of shelter, clean water, food, and medicine. Tragically, three children and one woman have reportedly died in the past few days due to these conditions.
The statement also raised concerns about alleged harassment and extortion, with refugees reportedly being stopped by police in cities including Sialkot, Khushab, and Attock, forced to pay bribes, or threatened with transfer to holding centers.
“When refugees are being forcibly expelled while all crossings remain closed, they are naturally compelled to live by the roadside, raising serious fears of a major humanitarian disaster,” the ambassador said.
The Embassy urged the Pakistani government to reopen all crossings, including Torkham, Boldak, Chaman, Angoor Adda, and Ghulam Khan, or to temporarily suspend deportations until safe, orderly, and dignified returns can be ensured. It also called for humane treatment of detainees in holding centers and requested UNHCR and other international organizations to provide support and improve facilities at check-in centers.
The spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Zabiullah Mujahid announced on Wednesday that the security and defense forces of the Islamic Emirate will temporarily halt the “Rad al-Zulm” defensive operation on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr and also at the request of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar.
Zabiullah Mujahid said in a post on X: “The Islamic Emirate, while appreciating the goodwill of friendly and mediating countries, emphasizes that maintaining Afghanistan’s national security, territorial integrity, and the safety of Afghan lives is its national and religious duty, and it will bravely respond to any aggression in case of a threat.”
Meanwhile, Ataullah Tarar, Pakistan’s Minister of Information and Broadcasting, also announced that Pakistan has temporarily suspended its attacks on Afghanistan for Eid al-Fitr at the request of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey.
A UN official told Reuters on Wednesday that the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) estimated the number of victims of the bombing of Kabul’s Omid hospital by Pakistan at 143 dead.
However, health officials in Afghanistan had earlier reported that the attack killed more than 400 people and injured 265.
Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai has accused Pakistan of trying to create “anarchy and weakness” in Afghanistan, following a deadly airstrike on Kabul.
In an interview with UK’s Sky News, Karzai said Islamabad’s policies were aimed at keeping Afghanistan unstable and “downtrodden,” warning that such an approach would harm both countries.
He condemned the recent strike on a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, which Afghan officials say killed around 400 people, describing it as an “extremely unfortunate event” in the history of relations between the two neighbours.
Karzai said he personally heard the explosion, describing a “horrific sound” that shook his home and filled the surrounding area with smoke and dust.
The former leader, who governed Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014, said tensions between the two countries are longstanding, claiming Pakistan has struggled to maintain stable relations with successive Afghan governments.
He urged Pakistani leaders to change course and pursue a more constructive relationship, saying past strategies of interference and destabilisation had failed and would not succeed in the future.
Fighting between the two countries has intensified since late February, when Pakistan launched airstrikes it says targeted militant infrastructure. The United Nations estimates the violence has displaced more than 100,000 people.
Pakistan has denied targeting civilians, insisting its operations were aimed at militant sites and accusing Kabul of spreading “misleading” claims to deflect from alleged cross-Durand Line threats.
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