Connect with us

Latest News

Migrants in Panama deported from US moved to Darien jungle region

The migrants include people from Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, according to Panama’s president, Jose Raul Mulino, who has agreed with the U.S. to receive non-Panamanian deportees.

Published

on

A group of nearly 100 migrants deported from the U.S. to Panama last week has been moved from a hotel in the capital to the Darien jungle region in the south of the country, Panama’s government said on Wednesday.

In a statement, Panama’s security ministry said of the 299 migrants deported from the U.S. in recent days, 13 had been repatriated to their countries of origin while another 175 remained in the hotel in Panama City awaiting onward journeys after agreeing to return home, Reuters reported.

The migrants have been staying at the hotel under the protection of local authorities and with the financial support of the United States through the U.N.-related International Organization for Migration and the U.N. refugee agency, according to the Panamanian government.

The migrants include people from Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, according to Panama’s president, Jose Raul Mulino, who has agreed with the U.S. to receive non-Panamanian deportees.

The deportation of non-Panamanian migrants to Panama is part of the Trump administration’s attempt to ramp up deportations of migrants living in the U.S. illegally, read the report.

One of the challenges of Trump’s plan is that some migrants come from countries that refuse to accept U.S. deportation flights due to strained diplomatic relations or other reasons.

The arrangement with Panama allows the U.S. to deport these nationalities and makes it Panama’s responsibility to organize their repatriation.

The process has been criticized by human rights groups that worry migrants could be mistreated and also fear for their safety if they are ultimately returned to violent or war-torn countries of origin, such as Afghanistan, Reuters reported.

Susana Sabalza, a Panamanian migration lawyer representing one of the families transferred to the San Vicente shelter in the Darien region, said she had not been able to see her clients while they were held at the hotel in Panama City and is seeking permission to visit them at their new location.

She declined to identify their nationality, but said they were a Muslim family who “could be decapitated” if they returned home.

Sabalza said the family would be requesting asylum in Panama or “any country that will receive them other than their own.”

The security ministry statement said 97 migrants had been transferred to the shelter in the Darien region, which includes dense and lawless jungle separating Central America from South America.

In recent years, it has become a corridor for hundreds of thousands of migrants aiming to reach the United States. Eight more migrants would be moved there soon, the statement added.

Early on Wednesday, the hotel in Panama City where the migrants had been held appeared quiet, according to a Reuters witness.

On Tuesday some migrants had been seen holding hands and looking out of a window of the hotel to get the attention of reporters outside.

Migrants in the hotel were not allowed to leave, according to media reports.

A Chinese national, Zheng Lijuan, escaped from the hotel, according to Panama’s migration service, but was later caught in Costa Rica and returned to Panama.

Latest News

Khalilzad warns Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions likely to worsen after fresh airstrikes

Published

on

Former U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has warned that the latest Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan and recent violence inside Pakistan are part of a wider crisis, saying he sees no indication that the situation is about to change.

In a post on X on Thursday, Khalilzad described the Pakistani airstrikes that have killed Afghan civilians and the increasing use of force against civilians in Pakistan as “interconnected tragedies,” implying both effected by Pakistan’s establishment.

“Unfortunately, I do not see any signs of change,” Khalilzad said, adding that current indicators suggested the use of force against Pakistanis would “likely get worse” in the coming days.

His comments came after Pakistan carried out a new wave of airstrikes inside Afghanistan overnight Thursday, saying it had targeted 10 locations used to launch and store drones.

Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes were conducted in response to drones launched from Afghan territory a day earlier and described them as “deliberate, precise, calibrated and proportionate.”

Afghan officials said the strikes killed four civilians. The attacks reportedly hit locations including Kandahar, Khost and Paktia provinces. Afghanistan’s Islamic Emirate authorities have denied launching the drones cited by Pakistan and have condemned the strikes.

The latest attacks follow Pakistani airstrikes earlier this week in Kunar and Paktika. Pakistan said those operations killed 28 militants, while the United Nations confirmed that three Afghan civilians — a man, a woman and a girl — were killed, with four others injured.

The renewed airstrikes come amid a sharp deterioration in relations between Kabul and Islamabad. Pakistan has accused Afghanistan of allowing militant groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from its territory and launch attacks inside Pakistan.

Afghan authorities reject the allegations and say militancy inside Pakistan is an internal issue.

Khalilzad has previously called for a change in Pakistan’s strategy toward both its internal security problems and Afghanistan.

Continue Reading

Latest News

Afghanistan summons Pakistani chargé d’affaires over latest airstrikes

Published

on

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires to Kabul and lodged a strong protest against the violation of Afghan airspace and Pakistani military airstrikes on several Afghan provinces.

The ministry handed the Pakistani diplomat a formal protest note following the attacks on Kandahar, Paktia and Khost provinces on Wednesday night, which reportedly caused civilian casualties.

The Islamic Emirate strongly condemned the strikes, calling them a violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and contrary to Islamic, international, humanitarian and good-neighborly principles.

The ministry also rejected what it called baseless claims that Afghan territory was being used as a source of Pakistan’s recent security incidents.

It said using such claims to justify military action was an attempt to distort facts, mislead public opinion and conceal Pakistan’s internal failures.

The Islamic Emirate further accused Pakistan’s military leadership of avoiding commitments made to regional countries and warned that such actions could further escalate tensions in the region.

Continue Reading

Latest News

Museum dedicated to preserving ‘Jihadi’ artefacts opens in Kandahar

The museum’s collection includes more than 100 items gathered from different locations.

Published

on

A museum dedicated to preserving what Afghan authorities describe as “Jihadi artefacts” has officially opened in Kandahar, with officials saying more than 100 items have so far been collected for display.

Mufti Mohammad Tahir Ahmad, Director General for the Preservation of Jihadi Artefacts at the Ministry of Information and Culture, attended the inauguration ceremony alongside Qari Ahmadullah Saeed Khosti, Director of Registration for Jihadi Artefacts and Documents.

Mufti Inamullah Samangani, head of the Kandahar Information and Culture Department, and officials from several government departments also attended the ceremony.

According to the official responsible for preserving the artefacts in Kandahar, the museum’s collection includes more than 100 items gathered from different locations.

The collection includes weapons that officials say were captured from British, Soviet and US forces, as well as personal belongings and other items associated with people killed during Afghanistan’s conflicts over the past two decades.

Officials said efforts to collect additional artefacts would continue in order to expand the museum’s collection.

The museum is now open to visitors, according to the officials.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending

Copyright © 2026 Ariana News. All rights reserved!