KOHAT: Local body members and activists of social organisations in Junglekhel area here have demanded immediate eviction of Afghan refugees from the district to bring down crime rate, rates of property and rent of shops.

Speaking at a jirga held here on Sunday, Pir Shah Nawaz, president of an alliance of social organisations, chairman of police-public liaison committee Israr Shinwari, traders’ union member Ameer Khan and others alleged that elders were involved in attesting the fake identity cards and domiciles of Afghans in the neighbouring Hangu district, who then bought lands and other properties in Kohat.

They said the Afghans enjoyed free electricity in their camps, adding they owned shops, houses and farms in Kohat.

The jirga members said the population of Afghans in Kohat had swelled from a mere 15,000 in 1980 to 400,000.

They said the Afghans had encroached upon vast lands.

The jirga members said crime rate had also escalated due to presence of Afghans in Kohat. They said the locals had welcomed the Afghan brothers on humanitarian grounds after the Soviet invasion of their country, and asked them to go back to their homeland as peace had returned to their country.

Meanwhile, DSP Saadaat Khan told Dawn that earlier weapons were smuggled from the tribal subdivision of Darra Adamkhel to the down country through Kohat, but now arms had been smuggled from Parachinar and Waziristan districts to Darra since the takeover of Afghanistan by Taliban.

He said recently the police had recovered Russian-made double-barrel 12-bore guns, anti-aircraft guns and spare parts, which were being supplied to Darra Adamkhel in three trucks.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2023