Around 3,000 pilgrims are stranded for the last three days at the Iran-Pakistan border due to lack of security needed to escort their buses to Quetta.

Pilgrims returning from Iran and Iraq are usually escorted by security forces due to past attacks and existing threats by sectarian outfits on buses carrying pilgrims.

The pilgrims were returning home from Iraq, where they had gone to commemorate Ashura.

Majority of those stranded include women and children, with around 1,200 men amongst them.

"We are not being provided clean drinking water or food by the authorities. Food supplies carried by the pilgrims have finished," said Mohammad Sadiq, a stranded pilgrim.

Women and children are spending nights under the cold sky, with not much heed paid by security officials, he added.

The people stranded on the border also lamented a lack of basic amenities.

Pilgrims are required to pay a per-day fee for staying at the Pakistan House, but some stranded pilgrims alleged that the authorities are not escorting them as they want to charge extra money.

"Pilgrims are stopped at the Pakistan House due to security reasons and will be escorted to Quetta as soon as possible,” said a security official on condition of anonymity.

The stranded pilgrims have demanded from the government for aid, and have requested earliest possible escort to the provincial capital.

Opinion

Editorial

Power lunch
Updated 20 Jun, 2025

Power lunch

However things develop in the Israel-Iran war, Pakistan must maintain its position, and stand by its neighbouring state.
Refuge denied
20 Jun, 2025

Refuge denied

ON World Refugee Day, it is essential we confront the scale of human displacement, which has now reached...
Income tax rate
20 Jun, 2025

Income tax rate

FINALLY, some clarity. After the confusion created over the applicable rate on the lowest income tax bracket due to...
Brewing catastrophe
Updated 19 Jun, 2025

Brewing catastrophe

If Mr Trump makes the mistake of plunging into the fight on Israel’s behalf, the world will enter very dangerous territory.
Pension bill
19 Jun, 2025

Pension bill

IT is, indeed, a worrying conundrum. The federal government’s annual pension burden now exceeds its fiscal space...
Abandoned Karachi
19 Jun, 2025

Abandoned Karachi

THE explosive mix of decay, institutional apathy and corruption has, once again, placed Karachi among the bottom ...