KHYBER: The repatriation of Afghans was temporarily suspended on Friday after the underground terminal for cross-border pedestrian movement was inundated by rainwater and mud on Thursday night due to heavy downpour at Torkham.

Sources at the border crossing said a sizable number of returning Afghans had gathered at the pedestrian terminal while waiting for the reopening of the underground ‘flooded’ terminal.

They said that nobody had even crossed over to Afghanistan nor had anyone entered Pakistan due to the terminal closure, with returning families stranded in the open compound outside the immigration offices.

Officials were at loss to explain as to why they had failed to clear the rainwater and mud as no cleanliness effort was seen throughout on Friday, while more Afghan families continued to arrive at the temporary transit point in Landi Kotal.

The vehicular traffic, however, remained operational with over 450 vehicles loaded with both import and export goods, coupled with around 250 empty vehicles crossed the border to both sides.

Meanwhile, officials at Torkham said the return of illegal Afghans or those with Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) had slowed down for last two weeks compared to the early weeks of April when the repatriation was started.

They said that in comparison to the return of nearly 1,500 individuals daily since the start of their return process on April 1, the number had dropped to around 650 during the last two weeks.

Officials said initially around two weeks were very hectic as a large number of illegal Afghans were expelled from Punjab and sent to Torkham for deportation. As an aggregate, over 45,000 illegal or ACC holders have so far returned to their country via Torkham since the first week of April, they added.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2025