Latest News
Afghan envoy meets UNHCR official in Islamabad, discusses mistreatment of migrants
The meeting comes amid ongoing reports of arbitrary detention and harassment of Afghan refugees and asylum seekers by law enforcement agencies in Islamabad in Pakistan.
Sardar Ahmed Shakib, head of the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad, met with Philippa Candler, Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Islamabad this week and expressed concern over the detention of Afghan migrants in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
The embassy in Islamabad said in a statement that Shakib emphasized that migrants who have legal documents should be supported and not arrested.
He added that in some instances they are forced to pay bribes and large sums of money.
Philippa Candler meanwhile said that she had received complaints about the mistreatment of Afghan migrants by the Pakistani police and added that she will discuss this matter with the Pakistani authorities in the coming days.
The meeting comes amid ongoing reports of arbitrary detention and harassment of Afghan refugees and asylum seekers by law enforcement agencies in Islamabad in Pakistan.
Babu Ram Pant, Deputy Regional Director for South Asia at Amnesty International, said last week this action by Pakistan was part of a large discriminatory policy against Afghans inside the country.
“The police night raids, harassment and arbitrary detention of hundreds of Afghan refugees, including women and children, in the capital city is part of a larger discriminatory policy against Afghans inside the country.
Amnesty International stated that the Pakistani government has repeatedly and arbitrarily enacted policies increasing the precarity of Afghan refugees inside the country… and this newest policy measure has endangered an already at-risk population.
Pant said: “The Pakistani authorities’ actions are sweeping and discretionary in nature and have resulted in the harassment and detention of refugees even when in possession of valid documents and visas.
“All refugees and asylum seekers, regardless of documentation status, have the right to due process and protection against forced return in international human rights law.
“Amnesty International urges Pakistan to abide by its obligations under international law, including the principle of non-refoulement, by taking immediate steps to ensure the release of all those detained and revoking the policy of obtaining an NOC at once.”
Latest News
Four members of one family killed in Helmand in Pakistan airstrike
The family, originally from Ghazni province, reportedly operated a small restaurant in the area.
Four members of a family were killed and seven others wounded in an airstrike in Safar area of Garmser district in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, according to local reports.
The family, originally from Ghazni province, reportedly operated a small restaurant in the area.
The bodies of those killed and the wounded were transported by helicopter to Ghazni province for burial and medical treatment, according to the reports.
Latest News
UNAMA acting chief visits Islam Qala border to assess support for returnees
UN launched a $529 million response plan aimed at assisting around 2.7 million Afghans expected to return from Iran and Pakistan between April and December 2026.
Georgette Gagnon, UNAMA’s acting head, visited western Afghanistan, including the Islam Qala border crossing, to see firsthand UN efforts to support millions of Afghans returning from neighboring Iran and Pakistan.
Earlier this year, the UN launched a $529 million response plan aimed at assisting around 2.7 million Afghans expected to return from Iran and Pakistan between April and December 2026.
Latest News
Trump: Unlike Afghanistan, US took all equipment from Iraq
Trump said the withdrawal from Iraq marked the end of what he described as a costly military involvement, adding that he had set a clear mission and instructed commanders to complete it without allowing the US presence to become permanent.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday compared the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq with the 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying military equipment had been left behind in Afghanistan, while US forces leaving Iraq took their equipment with them.
Speaking at a White House event, Trump referred to the final departure of US-led coalition forces and equipment from Erbil Air Base in northern Iraq, which marked the end of the US military mission against Daesh in Iraq.
“I said, take a little longer. Take everyone. We left all of the equipment, if you remember, in Afghanistan. Everything was left behind,” Trump said.
“I said, ‘I want every screw taken. If there’s a screw lying on the ground, take it. If we have a canvas tent, take it.’ We took everything,” he added.
He also mentioned the August 2021 attack at Kabul airport that killed 13 US soldiers.
Trump said he had become acquainted with the families of the US service members killed in the attack and also highlighted those who were seriously wounded.
“What happened to those—to their children should never have been allowed to happen,” he said, adding that 48 wounded service members were severely injured and “never get mentioned.”
Trump said the withdrawal from Iraq marked the end of what he described as a costly military involvement, adding that he had set a clear mission and instructed commanders to complete it without allowing the US presence to become permanent.
The US military announced on Wednesday that its forces and equipment had completed an orderly departure from Erbil Air Base, formally ending Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq. The US-led mission began in 2014 to fight Daesh after the group seized large areas of Iraq and Syria. The US is continuing its counter-Daesh mission in Syria from a headquarters in Jordan.
Trump said the US had entered Iraq to fight the Islamic State and that the group no longer controlled a territorial “caliphate.”
“We came to fight a caliphate, and there is no longer a caliphate, so we are going home indeed,” he said.
-
Sport4 days agoAfghan bodybuilder Ali Bilal finishes runner-up at Mr Olympia for third straight year
-
Latest News4 days agoAfghanistan says 28 killed, 32 captured in Nuristan operation
-
World5 days agoTrump rejects Iranian proposal to open Hormuz and end fighting
-
Sport3 days agoAfghanistan vs India Asian Games quarter-final abandoned without a toss
-
Latest News4 days agoUNDP, UN Women launch financing initiative for Afghan women entrepreneurs
-
Latest News4 days agoGermany reports 488 Afghans for possible deportation, 267 have no criminal convictions
-
Regional4 days agoAimal Wali Khan calls Dera Ismail Khan attack a ‘state failure’
-
Regional4 days agoFloods, landslides kill 56 in India and 14 in Nepal
