LOWER DIR: A total of 135 Pakistani medical students, most of them belonging to Upper and Lower Dir districts, returned home on Tuesday after remaining stranded in Afghanistan for nearly nine months.

Speaking at a press conference at the Timergara Press Club, representatives of Pakistani students in Afghanistan, Idrees Khan and Fayaz Yousafzai, said the students, enrolled in various Afghan universities, crossed into Pakistan through the Torkham border and safely reached their hometowns.

They said the students’ return was made possible through the efforts of Pakistan’s Consul General in Jalalabad, Shafqat Ullah and Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior, which granted the necessary travel permissions.

The representatives said the latest repatriation followed an earlier initiative under which 68 Pakistani students crossed the Torkham border on July 11, 2026, with the support of the Pakistani Consulate in Jalalabad and Afghan authorities.

Mr Idrees and Mr Fayaz thanked the Consul General, the Consulate General of Pakistan in Jalalabad, the Afghan Ministry of Interior and other relevant authorities for facilitating the students’ return.

They said the coordinated efforts ensured the safe and orderly repatriation of Pakistani students and reflected effective cooperation between the relevant authorities of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The students’ representatives said that more than 1000 Pakistani students were enrolled in various medical colleges in Afghanistan and they all wished to return because of the vacations.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2026