KOHAT: The district administration razed seven Afghan refugee camps in Kohat and one in Hangu district on Friday.

Kohat deputy commissioner Mohamad Nawaz Wazir supervised the operation. The razed camps included Ghamkol 1, 2, 3, Ublan, Cheechana, Ghulam Banda, and Shindand in Kohat district and Kata Kanari in Hangu district.

These camps had been abandoned, and despite the enforcement of Section 144, under which illegal occupations had been strictly banned at these sites, the people had constructed shops, which were also razed.

Haji Abid, the chairman of the grand businessmen alliance, told Dawn that the repatriation of Afghan refugees had left a vacuum, which may take several years to fill.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2026