MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir is set to expel some 11,000 illegal Afghan refugees under a national anti-terror plan announced in the wake of the country's worst ever militant attack, police said on Thursday.

There are an estimated three million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan, either officially or unofficially, most of whom left their country to escape conflict in the 1980s and 1990s.

However, they are viewed with deep suspicion inside Pakistan and routinely accused by authorities of harbouring militants.

“Under the National Action Plan against terrorism, some 11,000 Afghans will be expelled from Azad [independent] Kashmir,” Additional IG Police Azad Kashmir Faheem Ahmed Abbasi told a press conference in Muzaffarabad

The plan, which involved the outlawing of militant groups, registration of seminaries and crackdown on hate speech, was announced in the wake of a Taliban massacre that killed 154 people, many of them school children, in December.

Pakistan also lifted a six-year moratorium on the death penalty and announced the establishment of military courts in the case of terror offences.

Twelve suspects have so far been arrested over the school attack in Peshawar, most of them Pakistani nationals, according to the army.

The killings have hardened prejudices toward Afghan refugees, with more than 30,000 leaving Pakistan between January and the first week of February, according to figures released by the International Organisation for Migration.

Pakistan plans to register the 1.4 million Afghan refugees currently living in the country illegally over the next four months, with a view to eventually repatriating them.

AJK govt bans 63 terrorist organisations

The AJK government on Thursday issued a notification to ban the activities of 63 terrorist organisations under the National Action Plan (NAP).

A copy of the notification issued by the Home Department. ─ Abrar Haider

In accordance with the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2014, the AJK Home Department issued the notification to ban 63 organisations within the jurisdiction of Kashmir including Al Qaeda, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, Laskhar-i-Taiba, Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi whereas the activities of Jamat-ud-Dawa will be under observation.

As per the notification, no individual is permitted to cooperate with these banned organisations.

Senior police official, Faheem Ahmed Abbasi, said the ban will come into effect on May 1 under the NAP.

During a press conference, DIG Yaseen Qureshi, SP Shafqat Tanveer — along with other police officers — said that under the NAP, a counter-terrorism department is being established which will recruit 500 highly trained personnel who will be equipped with modern weapons.

The Additional IG said an apex committee was formed in AJK and a 20-point agenda was set which will be implemented from May 1, adding that there will be no exceptions during this period.

In the wake of the deadly attack on Peshawar's Army Public School on Dec 16, 2014, the government constituted the NAP.

In response to a question, the Additional IG said that the counter-terrorism department will form seven units from the 500 personnel who will be recruited.

Abbasi added that the 1861 Police Act is still being implemented in AJK, adding that it has been 12 years since the act in Punjab was revised.

He said the police's legal structure needs to be fixed. On the other hand, Abbasi also noted that AJK's law and order situation and police performance is much better than other parts of the country.

He further said that NAP is of utmost importance and through its implementation, peace and order can be established. He also said that an action-packed initiative will be taken against banned organisations in AJK.