Pakistan’s move to deport Afghan refugees increases mistrust between Kabul-Islamabad: Taliban spokesperson

Kabul [Afghanistan], November 11 (ANI): As Pakistan forcefully expelled Afghan refugees, Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said that this move will increase the mistrust of the Afghans toward Pakistan, TOLO News reported.

He further denied the presence of terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan.

Mujahid’s reaction comes after the Balochistan caretaker information minister Jan Achakzai claimed that their government would start the same campaign against those living with legal documents in Pakistan with the “state’s decision.”

“And no one should be mistaken. This is the decision of a ‘sovereign state’ to repatriate all illegal immigrants. So any political government comes to power after the elections, this process will continue. The new government will be bound to follow this policy,” he added, according to Dawn.

However, earlier Achakzai called on the Afghan officials to hand over the refugees coming to Afghanistan from across the Durand Line, according to TOLO News.

Furthermore, he stated that the Afghan soil is used against Pakistan.

However, the Taliban spokesperson denied Achakzai’s remarks and said that Afghan soil is not used against anyone, TOLO News reported.

“Some of the actions, remarks and movements by Pakistan cause hatred among the people of Afghanistan and they will doubt its (Pakistan’s) government, complain, and even hate Pakistan. We don’t want such space because it causes damage to both sides,” Mujahid added.

Meanwhile, the president of Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Pakistan, Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, called for the formation of a joint commission between Kabul and Islamabad to facilitate the deportation of the Afghan refugees, according to TOLO News.

He added that the issue of Afghan refugees is a bilateral matter and that a unilateral decision in this regard will affect Kabul-Islamabad relations.

Moreover, Pakistan has been continuously blaming Afghanistan for the surge in terror attacks in their country, TOLO News reported.

After Pakistan announced a deadline for undocumented Afghans to leave the country, around 2,00,000 Afghans have returned home via the Torkham border, The News International reported.

The rise in repatriations comes after the Pakistan government ordered 1.7 million Afghans, “living illegally” in the country, to leave or face deportation, Dawn reported.