Directs officers to take the strongest possible legal action against land grabbers, illegal arms and drug traffickers.
DIG Islamabad Muhammad Jawad Tariq. Photo: APP/File
Islamabad Police have been ordered to launch immediate action against Afghans residing illegally in the capital and involved in criminal activities, following orders issued by the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police.
The directives were given in a meeting chaired by DIG Islamabad Muhammad Jawad Tariq on Sunday, which was attended by SSP Operations Qazi Ali Raza and all Station House Officers (SHOs).
According to Islamabad Police, the DIG has issued strict instructions to strengthen security across the city and ensure public safety. He ordered swift legal action against Afghan nationals living in the capital without papers, saying authorities had obtained concrete evidence of their involvement in various crimes.
Read: FO accuses the Taliban of the delay of the Turkish delegation
Tariq said there would be no tolerance for land grabbers, illegal arms and drug traffickers, and ordered officers to take “the strictest possible legal action” against those involved.
He also ordered police to crack down on active gangs linked to major criminal activities and ordered effective operations against groups involved in car and motorcycle theft. Patrols and checks, he added, must be made more useful, while citizens’ complaints must be addressed as a priority.
Many Afghans have been living in Pakistan since the 1980s after fleeing successive conflicts in Afghanistan, but following cross-border attacks from Afghan territory, the government decided to repatriate Afghan nationals residing in the country.
Pakistan has repatriated more than 1.5 million Afghan citizens since November 2023, as authorities continue a nationwide campaign to expel what they describe as undocumented foreign nationals.
The repatriation operation, launched in November 2023, resulted in the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Afghans. Officials said earlier that the operation would initially focus on individuals without legal documents, while other categories – including Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders, who were granted temporary legal status in 2017 – would be addressed in later phases.
Pakistan has previously blamed militant attacks and some crimes on Afghan citizens, who make up the country’s largest migrant community. Afghanistan has rejected the allegations and described the ongoing repatriations as forced deportations.
