Govt orders crackdown on Afghan nationals living without visas

• Interior ministry sends letter to provinces, all territories.
• Interior ministry seeks daily report on Afghan nationals.
• Ministry directs LEAs to expedite deportation of Afghans.
  

The interior ministry has ordered law enforcement agencies nationwide to arrest Afghan citizens without visas from July 10 as part of an intensifying deportation drive.

In a letter dated July 28 — addressed to all four provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad administrations — the ministry directed law enforcement agencies to “expedite the repatriation/deportation” of Afghan nationals living illegally in the country.

The ministry said that “with effect from 10 July, 2026, any Afghan national found residing in Pakistan without a valid visa shall be arrested immediately.”

It further requested that a daily report — indicating the number of Afghan nationals found without valid visas, the action taken against them, and their present status — be furnished to the ministry, commencing July, 11.

The directive is dated Sunday, the day after a deadly attack on Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) camp in Karachi left three Rangers personnel martyred and four others injured.

According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the assailants detonated a blast at the main gate of the camp before attempting to breach the perimeter security.

The attack was decisively foiled by the vigilant response of Rangers troops, who eliminated three militants and captured one in an injured condition, the military’s media wing said.

Later, the injured terrorist identified himself as Usman Ali, a member of the India-backed terrorist group, Jamaat ul Ahrar.

According to the terrorist, he hails from Jalalabad city in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, saying three other terrorists, including Abdul Hadi, Janan, and Umar Farooq, were also involved in the attack.

He revealed that all members had received training in Afghanistan, including the preparation of suicide jackets and other militant training under an instructor named Umar Qari.

Earlier, the Foreign Office (FO) said that it summoned the Afghan Charge d’ Affaires and issued a strong demarche over the terrorist attack.

In a statement issued on X, FO spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said the Afghan envoy was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last night, and a strong demarche was issued regarding the attack.

A similar demarche was simultaneously conveyed by Pakistan’s Ambassador Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani to the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul.