October 7, 2001	Sunday	Rajab 19, 1422

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QUETTA, Oct 6: The administration has ordered the Afghan nationals living in the localities around Quetta airport to vacate their houses immediately.

A senior police officer, while confirming the issuance of the orders, said the step had been taken for security reasons as the area was very sensitive.

“Yes, some action was being taken against Afghan nationals living in the area,” he said and added that the local population had not been served any notice in this connection.

According to sources, the authorities issued notices to Afghans in Killi Khazi, Khoratabad Nuhasar and Aghbarg, asking them to vacate their houses as soon as possible. However, the reason was not mentioned in the notice.

Sources said the decision in this regard was taken in a meeting on Saturday, which was attended by high ranking military and civil officials.

The localities are in the vicinity of Quetta Airport, which is basically a military air base.

The decision was reportedly taken keeping in view a threat to a Quetta-bound PIA fight from Lahore two days back.

The authorities concerned had intercepted a massage that PIA flight coming from Lahore would be hit by missile, after which the airport was closed for some time and the pilot was asked to change the route.

The fight landed in Quetta after a 45-minute delay following clearance from the security officials.

Sources said the government had taken serious notice of the situation and decided to clear the area surrounding Quetta airport to ensure the safe landing of civil and air force planes.

Sources said authorities had deployed heavy contingent of Frontier Corps, police and personnel of other law enforcement agencies in the localities and the forces have enhanced patrolling in the area.