LANDI KOTAL: The security personnel have arrested around 3,000 Afghan nationals for trying to enter Pakistan via Torkham border and other unfrequented routes without legal travel documents since the implementation of the border management policy in June last year.

They all were deported afterwards, the local officials told Dawn.

The officials said vigilance along the Afghan border had been tightened both at the designated zero border crossing and unfrequented routes as a large number of Afghans not having valid travel documents continued to try their ‘luck’ for illegal entry to the country.

They were held for illegal entry after implementation of border management policy

Explaining the latest mechanism through which the cross-border movement of suspected Afghans and Pakistanis was closely monitored and regulated, officials of the Frontier Corps at Torkham said a detailed record of suspected terrorists and criminals was fed to a software programme used by intelligence personnel at the border crossing.

“The moment the number of the computerised identity card of a wanted criminal or suspected terrorist is punched into the system, all details of his or her are displayed on the screen with the advice for appropriate action,” an official said, adding that a key member of the banned militant outfit, Tehreek-i-Taliban Swat, was arrested with the help of that software.

They said another software programme was installed at the National Database and Registration Authority’s Torkham offices, where fake and counterfeit Pakistani CNICs issued to Afghan nationals were detected.

The officials said interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had approved the installation of that IT system during a recent visit to Torkham border.

They said the condition of legal travel documents had helped regulate cross-border movement and thus, making it extremely difficult for suspected terrorists and their facilitators to enter the country.

The officials insisted that with better surveillance and vigilance, it was difficult for Afghans to enter Pakistan without legal documents.

“The testimony of better border management is that you call anyone one in Afghanistan and ask him about the number of Afghans lined up outside Pakistan embassy in Kabul and consulate in Jalalabad. They are said to be in thousands,” an official said.

He said a large number of Afghan nationals had had fraudulently acquired CNICs during their prolonged stay in Pakistan but they could no longer fool the new security and surveillance system. Such people, including men, women and children, are arrested and deported,” he said.

The officials said suspected terrorists, who would come freely to Pakistan in the recent past and carry out their nefarious acts, too had become very cautious as they had become aware of the extensive checking of travel and other necessary documents at Torkham.

They said such elements were reluctant to approach the Nadra and passport offices for fear of arrest as all their criminal records were permanently placed on the computerised systems there.

STRIKE AGAINST OUTAGES: The doctors and paramedics of the Agency Headquarters Hospital Landi Kotal on Monday observed a complete strike against the prolonged power outages on the premises.

Wearing black armbands, the protesters said the electric supply to the hospital remained suspended for more than 15 hours daily and thus, adversely affecting patient care.

The political administration’s officials tried in vain to persuade protesters to resume duty as the latter demanded an assurance for considerable reduction in loadshedding hours.

FOUR INJURED: At least four people were injured after the roof of a restaurant collapsed in Torkham here on Monday.

The injured, including Tahirullah, Zahirullah, Mohammad Wali and Sharbat Khan, were shifted to a local hospital, where their condition was stated to be out of danger.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2017