KHAAR, June 8: The Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees has registered at least 20,000 Afghans residing in the Bajaur tribal agency, officials told Dawn here on Tuesday.

The administrator of the commissionerate said that the federal government had directed the refugee agency to register the Afghans who had been living in the agency for the last 24 years. He said that the registration process would be completed in 25 days.

He said that five teams had been constituted to complete the registration process. He said that the political administration had provided 50 levy personnel to the CAR teams to facilitate the process.

In the first phase of registration, at least 20,000 Afghans living in the far-flung Mamond valley along the border had been registered. A total of 4,748 Afghan families, comprising 37,035 persons lived in the residential areas of the Bajaur Agency, while 9,323 Afghan families, comprising 75,542 persons, in refugee camps located in different areas of the agency.

The official said that around 10,893 Afghans had returned to their country from the agency in 2002. Sources said that the registration teams were also inquiring whether or not the Afghans had obtained Pakistan's nationality. The teams are also investigating as to how many Afghans owned property in the area.

An official source told this reporter that in some areas, the Afghans had refused to get themselves registered either with the commissionerate or with the political administration.