MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Nov 13: Pakistan has opened a consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif, an official said on Thursday.

“Our consulate was established yesterday (Wednesday),” consulate head Mohammad Ziad Khan told reporters.

Islamabad opened the mission to issue visas and provide medical and educational help to people in northern Afghanistan, he said.

“In Kabul we heard that people in Mazar had problems trying to go to Pakistan, so we opened our consulate.”

Mr Khan said the consulate would issue visas free of charge to people visiting Pakistan for medical treatment, traders and those with houses in Pakistan.

Besides its embassy in Kabul, Islamabad has already opened consulates in Jalalabad and Kandahar.—AFP