LANDI KOTAL: Pakis­tani authorities at the Torkham border on Monday deported 56 Afghan nationals arrested from various areas on charges of having entered the country without the required travel documents.

According to border officials, the deportation of Afghans having illegally entered the country was intensified after the reopening of the Torkham crossing on June 18. The border remained closed for five days after Pakistani and the Afghan border security forces exchanged heavy gunfire over the construction of a gate.

The officials said 618 Afghan nationals charged under the Foreigners Act had been deported to their country since June 18 and the highest number of deportations in a day was 254, on June 20.

Since June 1, only those with valid Pakistan visa stamped on their Afghan passports are allowed to cross the border.

The restrictions had considerably reduced the number of Afghans travelling to Pakistan via Torkham. “The number shrank to 2,000 a day as compared to over 15,000 daily prior to June 1,” the officials said, adding that the number plummeted to 600 to 800 after the June 12 and 13 bloody clashes between the border forces.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2016