QUETTA: Security forces conducted a major intelligence-based operation in the Nokundi and Taftan areas of Chagai district and arrested the Afghan nationals who illegally entered the Pakistani area using an infrequent route, officials said.

“As many as 179 Afghans were taken into custody who entered the border area without having legal travel documents,” a senior security official said, adding that most were Uzbek who were handed over to the authorities concerned for further legal action.

Officials said that patrolling of the security forces had been intensified in the border area along with the Afghan border to keep a vigilant eye on the border to check on illegal entry, human smuggling, and other unlawful activities.

Last week 11 Afghan nationals were killed and nine others injured in the Nokundi area in a head-on collision between an oil tanker and a pick-up truck in which Afghan nationals were illegally travelling in their way to European countries via Iran.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2025