ISLAMABAD, April 24: A delegation leaves for Kabul on a special flight on Thursday to bring back the Pakistanis detained in various jails of Afghanistan.

Official sources told Dawn that the team, headed by Foreign Ministry Additional Secretary Aziz Ahmad Khan, included some interior ministry officials and doctors who would provide first aid to the prisoners.

The first batch will comprise 30 prisoners out of some 1,133 believed to be in Afghan jails. After arrival in the afternoon, they will be shifted to the Haripur Jail.

President Gen Pervez Musharraf at a public meeting in Peshawar on Tuesday had said that all Pakistanis languishing in Afghanistan would be brought back shortly. The president had disclosed that he had discussed the issue with the interim Afghan chairman, Hamid Karzai, during his visit to Kabul.

Information Secretary Anwar Mahmood confirmed to this scribe the proposed visit of the delegation to Kabul. He, however, expressed ignorance about the exact number of prisoners to be brought back through the special flight.

Asked about the plane’s time of departure, the information secretary declined to disclose it, citing security reasons.

The quick decision is believed to have been taken by the military government in order to obtain tribal people’s support for referendum.

Around 12,000 volunteers had gone to Afghanistan in October to fight alongside the Taliban against the US-led coalition forces. Most of them have returned. According to the International Committee of Red Cross, there still are more than 5,000 Pakistani nationals in various jails in Afghanistan.