Category: 1. Pakistan

Pakistan has decided to shut down 16 Afghan refugee camps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Balochistan, and Punjab as the repatriation of refugees continues.

The federal government last month informed the provinces that the formal repatriation and deportation of over 1.3 million Afghan refugees holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards will begin on September 1.

The decision followed the interior ministry’s announcement on July 31 that PoR cardholders — the last category of Afghans legally residing in Pakistan without visas — became unlawful residents after their cards expired on June 30.

According to notifications dated September 25, 2025 and issued by theMinistry of States and Frontier Regions (Safron) — copies of which are available with Dawn.com — denotified camps are located in Haripur, Chitral and Upper Dir in KP, Chaghai, Loralai, Killa Saifullah, Pishin and Quetta in Balochistan, and Mianwali in Punjab.

When asked about the opinion on denotifying camps where thousands of refugees are staying, the Afghan Chief Commission did not respond to a request for comment.

Haji Abdul Samad, who is representative of a main camp in Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told Dawn.com this week that local officials have told him to vacate the camp in accordance with the government’s policy.

He, however, said there has been no raid, arrest or pressure on refugees to leave the Panian camp, which houses about 13,000 families and over 90,000 refugees, according to Abdul Samad.

Chief Minister KP Ali Amin Khan Gandapur stated on a number of occasions that his government will not force refugees to return.

The Safron ministry notifications say all lands within the denotified areas will be handed over to the provincial governments and deputy commissioners of the concerned districts.

They also read that all non-movable assets within the notified area will also be handed over to the provinces and deputy commissioners.

Most of the camps had been set up in early 1980s when refugees started coming to Pakistan after the invasion of the erstwhile Soviet Union.

UNHCR concerned

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN refugee agency, has shown concern at Pakistan’s decision to denotify some of the refugee villages.

It reiterated that returns to Afghanistan should be voluntary, phased, safe and dignified.

“Many of the people affected are Afghan refugees who have lived for years in these villages and have expressed great despair about how this development is going to impact on their lives,” spokesperson for UNHCR Pakistan, Qaiser Khan Afridi, told Dawn.com on Saturday.

“In particular, UNHCR urges that people with international protection needs and those with humanitarian considerations face particular challenges and should be protected against (forced) returns,” Afridi said.

Pakistan started repatriation of Afghan refugees in 2023 over security concerns and amid tension with the Taliban government.

Pakistan also argues that war has ended in Afghanistan and refugees should go back.

However, the refugees complain about the lack of transport. They say that they face problems finding trucks for shifting their household goods.

Gada Ali Khan Zadran, a representative of the refugees at Mianwali camp, told Dawn.com that refugees are facing difficulties in finding transport to take household items to Afghanistan.

Zadran also said that the fare of transport has also been increased from Rs300,000 to 600,000.

According to UNHCR, there were over 1.3 million Afghans in Pakistan as of June 30, 2025. More than half of them (717,945) lived in KP, 326,584 in Balochistan, 195,188 in Punjab, 75,510 in Sindh and 43,154 in Islamabad.

Security forces have killed 17 “India-sponsored” terrorists during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in the Lakki Marwat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the military’s media affairs wing said on Saturday.

According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), security forces conducted the IBO on the night between Friday and Saturday, on the “reported presence of khwarij belonging to Indian proxy, Fitna al Khwarij.”

The state uses the term Fitna al Khwarij to refer to terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

During the operation, “own troops effectively engaged the khwarij location and resultantly, seventeen Indian sponsored khwarij were sent to hell,” the ISPR statement said.

It added that weapons and ammunition were recovered from the slain terrorists, “who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against the security forces and law enforcement agencies, as well as [in the] killing of innocent civilians”.

The statement said a sanitisation operation was being conducted to “eliminate any other Indian-sponsored khwarji found in the area”.

The ISPR also reaffirmed the security forces’ determination to wipe out the menace of “Indian-sponsored terrorism” from the country.

President Asif Ali Zardari has congratulated the security forces on their successful operation in Lakki Marwat, according to a statement issued by his secretariat.

He paid tribute to the courage and sacrifices of the forces, saying “their efforts reflect the nation’s firm resolve to eradicate Indian proxy terrorism from Pakistan”.

“The complete elimination of Fitna al Khwarij and its networks is vital for lasting peace and stability in the country,” he added

President Zardari reaffirmed that the entire nation stands united with its valiant armed forces in the fight against terrorism.

Pakistan has lately been witnessing an uptick in terrorist activities, mainly in KP and Balochistan. In November 2022, the TTP, after breaking a ceasefire deal with the government, had vowed to escalate attacks against the security forces, the police, and other law enforcement agencies’ personnel.

In August, terrorists in Lakki Marwat had carried out a series of militant attacks, killing three soldiers and a woman while injuring three others, including two soldiers.

Additional reporting by Nadir Guramani.

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LAHORE, Sep 27 (APP):Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Youth Program, Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan, has said that the Punjab government stood firmly with the people during the recent floods and immediately established relief camps to provide clothing, shelter, medical aid, and other essential facilities to affected families.

He said that 2,000 families have already received rations, while another 2,000 will soon be provided relief.

He was addressing a special ceremony at UC 100 Sherakot on Saturday, organized in collaboration with ACT International and Kaar-e-Khair Foundation to support flood-affected families. Social leaders including ACT International’s Provincial Program Head Zulqarnain Ansari, Shoaib Hassan, Banish Rasheed, Muhammad Akbar, Javed Sarwar Bhatti, Yameen Mughal, Yasir Nambard, Imran Shah, S. Qurban, Sarfraz Bhatti, Ghulam Abbas Akbar Bhatti, Nisar Akbar Bhatti, Sunny Prince, and Ramzan Bhambar were present.

Rana Mashhood announced that the provincial government would also distribute crockery among 700 flood-hit households to help them resume normal life quickly. He stressed that public service is the government’s foremost priority and assured that relief distribution will continue based on verified lists so that no affected family is left out.

He also termed the recent defense and economic agreement between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as historic, saying it would open new avenues of development and prosperity for the people. He added that Pakistan’s leadership was taking solid steps to create fresh opportunities for business and employment.

Addressing the gathering, PML-N leader Hafiz Nauman said that timely evacuation of residents from flood-hit areas of Lahore prevented loss of life. He noted that the provincial government ensured the early provision of food, healthcare, and other necessities to affected families, and vowed that continuous assistance would continue until their full rehabilitation.

The ceremony, he said, had become a source of hope and encouragement for flood victims. On the occasion, more than 100 affected families received ration packages containing flour, ghee, pulses, sugar, rice, soap, and other essentials. Residents from Malik Park, Mehr Khaliq, and other flood-affected areas expressed gratitude to the government and social organizations, terming their support during this difficult period highly encouraging.

The newfound camaraderie between the US and Pakistan was on full display this week as Donald Trump welcomed Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and the country’s powerful army chief, Asim Munir, into the Oval Office, heralding them both as “great leaders”.

Having been cold-shouldered by successive US presidents, this was the first time a Pakistani prime minister had been invited to Washington in more than six years. It was also the unprecedented second time this year that Munir – who holds no official government role – held an intimate meeting with Trump, which many took as a telling signal of where the power to cut deals really lies in Pakistan.

Islamabad’s charm offensive with Trump since his re-election has included handing over to the US a high profile member of Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan and publicly crediting the US president with preventing hostilities between India and Pakistan escalating into all-out war, even nominating Trump for the Nobel peace prize for his efforts.

Yet what has appeared most effective is Pakistan’s touting of its allegedly untapped natural resources – namely oil, minerals and gas – for US exploration. In July, Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that “we have just concluded a Deal with the Country of Pakistan, whereby Pakistan and the United States will work together on developing their massive Oil Reserves. We are in the process of choosing the Oil Company that will lead this Partnership.”

The messaging was affirmed by Natalie Baker, the US chargé d’affaires in Islamabad, who told local media that US firms had been “showing keen interest in Pakistan’s oil, gas and mineral sectors, in line with President Donald Trump’s vision”.

Pakistan has already reaped rewards from its promise of oil. After an agreement in August, Trump gave Pakistan a generous 19% tariff on imported goods, the lowest of all south Asia nations and far below the punitive 50% tariffs that its neighbour and nemesis India is facing.

This month, a $500m (£370m) deal for the US to invest in Pakistan’s nascent minerals sector – including copper and rare earths – was announced, despite a lack of definitive data on the country’s mineral reserves.

Yet it is the promise of oil that has left experts and former government ministers even more baffled. They stress that there is no reliable proof that Pakistan has any substantive, untapped oil reserves, despite years of the world’s biggest oil companies attempting to find them.

Moin Raza Khan, a geoscientist and former managing director at Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), which has been at the forefront of oil exploration, said: “What Trump is claiming about Pakistan’s massive oil reserves has nothing to do with reality. It is without the support of any data or evidence. We don’t even know where these massive reserves would be, as we don’t have any surveys and studies so far that show us.”

Khan was among the experts who emphasised that despite more than half a century of exploration and drilling onshore and offshore, no large-scale commercially viable oil wells had been discovered on Pakistani soil. While some small oil repositories had been found, they produce about 65,000 barrels a day. In comparison, Saudi Arabia produces about 4bn barrels a year.

This is far from the first time that proclamations have been made about Pakistan’s potential as a petrostate. The country imports more than 80% of its oil, which is one of the biggest drains on the state coffers, prompting successive leaders to make a push for oil exploration.

Khan emphasised that over the years, more than 30 international companies, including Total, Shell and ExxonMobil, had come to Pakistan with the hope of finding oil, but had eventually left due to the high cost and security risk of exploration and low reward.

In 2015, a survey by the US energy administration estimated that the lower Indus basin in Pakistan could have 9bn barrels of “technically recoverable oil”, a survey that was recently referenced by Pakistan’s minister of state for petroleum, Ali Pervaiz Malik.

However, that survey has been called into question by oil companies. In 2019, the multinational oil corporations ExxonMobil and Eni worked with PPL to find oil and gas reserves offshore. But after spending more than $100m drilling the Kekra-1 Indus G block, nothing was found except a waterbed.

Khan, who headed PPL during the recent failed oil exploration, said: “A total of only 1.2bn barrels of oil have been discovered so far – which is nothing – and they are claiming they can find 100 times this in just the next three years.

“It’s just impossible. There is no magic wand to multiply Pakistan’s reserves.”

Islamabad’s ministry of petroleum declined to comment on questions about Pakistan’s oil reserves.

Despite the lack of any new evidence, the country is pressing ahead with 40 new offshore and 31 onshore blocks for oil and gas exploration, which will be awarded on 31 October. US companies are among those invited for bidding.

GA Sabri, a former federal secretary at the ministry of petroleum and former director general petroleum concession, described the claims of massive oil reserves as a “political gimmick” and was sceptical about the success of the oil block auction.

Much of Pakistan’s alleged untapped oil and gas reserves are said to be in the regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, which are in the midst of insurgencies by Taliban and separatist militants and where foreign companies have been routinely targeted.

Sabri said: “When it comes to exploration of new fields, there are high security risks.”

He emphasised that “even if the US does the drilling and starts now, it will take at least two to three decades and hundreds of millions of dollars to do this exploration – and nobody can say for sure reserves will be found”.

Sabri said the success of Pakistan’s onshore oil drilling was nothing short of “a myth”.

The District and Sessions Court Islamabad on Saturday upheld the arrest warrants issued against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur in a case related to the alleged recovery of liquor and illegal weapons.

The case, registered at Bara Kahu police station, was heard by Judicial Magistrate Mubashir Hassan Chishti. As Gandapur failed to appear before the court, the magistrate ordered that the arrest warrants remain in force.

The hearing was adjourned until October 4.