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Pakistan opens new border crossings to expedite Afghans’ repatriation

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Pakistan on Monday opened three new border crossings to accelerate the repatriation of undocumented Afghan nationals who have been ordered to leave the country or face expulsion, officials said.

The new crossings were set up at the Afghan border in southwestern Balochistan province in addition to the main crossing in Chaman district, said Jan Achakzai, information minister for the provincial caretaker government, Reuters reported.

The main crossing had been overwhelmed with Afghan refugees seeking to return home voluntarily, he said.

More than 280,000 Afghan nationals have left Pakistan since the new policy was announced in early October, according to the United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees (UNHCR).

Islamabad has begun round-up operations across the country after the deadline for voluntary departure expired on Nov. 1.

Pakistan has so far rejected calls from the United Nations, rights groups and Western embassies to reconsider its expulsion plan.

Kabul has also asked Islamabad to give Afghan nationals ample time to leave.

The expulsion drive has driven relations between the neighbours to a new low, with Islamabad reiterating its claim that militants use Afghan soil to plan and carry out attacks in Pakistan. Kabul says Pakistan's security is a domestic problem.

 

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Afghanistan carries out retaliatory attack against Pakistan

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The Ministry of National Defense said on Saturday it has attacked "centers and hideouts of evil elements and their supporters" across the Durand Line.

"Several points across the hypothetical line including centers and hideouts of evil elements and their supporters from where attacks were organized in Afghanistan were attacked in revenge from the southeast of the country," the ministry said in a statement.

Meanwhile, sources said that retaliatory attacks across the Durand Line began last night from Alisher district of Khost province and Dand Patan district of Paktia province and continued until morning.

According to sources, light and heavy weapons were used in the clashes.

Earlier, Pakistan launched airstrikes in Paktika's Barmal district on Tuesday, killing and wounding dozens of people.

The Ministry of National Defense of Afghanistan had warned that the attacks would not go unanswered.

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Syria is ‘more strategically important’ to US than Afghanistan: Khalilzad

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Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US envoy for Afghanistan peace, said that he had urged senior officials in the Joe Biden administration to take a more active approach toward Syria.

According to a report by the New York Times published on Friday, Khalilzad said the Biden administration made a mistake by refraining from having more direct contact with the Islamic Emirate after it came to power in 2021.

He said the recent meeting of the US delegation with Ahmed al-Sharaa, the new Syrian ruler, in Damascus was a positive step.

“Not that prematurely engaging doesn’t have risks,” Khalilzad said. “But I think there is an element of timing, of shaping things.” He added that Syria is “more strategically important” to the United States than Afghanistan, making the task more urgent.

Meanwhile, Khalilzad on Friday reiterated that the Doha Agreement states that a new government in Afghanistan would be determined by negotiations and dialogue between the IEA and other Afghan sides.

"The Doha Agreement did not define the nature of Afghan political systam, but it clearly stated that a new government would be determined by negotiations and dialogue between the Taliban and other Afghan sides," Khalilzad said on X. "The challenge for Afghans, Taliban and others, is how to deliver on this commitment, given current realities."

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Pakistan’s forced repatriation of Afghan refugees has fueled hatred: Imran Khan

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Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the forced deportation of Afghan refugees, which was intended to reduce terrorism, has actually created hatred that is detrimental to regional peace.

Speaking to reporters in Adiala Jail, Khan criticized Pakistan's recent airstrikes on Afghanistan and said that this is the second time Pakistan is bombing Afghanistan.

He also criticized that Bilawal Bhutto did not visit Afghanistan even once when he was the Pakistani foreign minister, while this should have been a priority.

Imran Khan recalled that he had told the then Pakistani Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa not to replace the head of the intelligence agency, General Faiz Hamid, because the situation in Afghanistan would be very different after the withdrawal of American forces, but he did not accept this only to extend his term, which led to an increase in terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

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