ISLAMABAD, June 30: Repatriation of Afghan refugees has been temporarily suspended after heavy rains and flashfloods in NWFP damaged several bridges and road between Peshawar and the Torkham border crossing into Afghanistan.

A spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that repatriation became impossible after heavy rains lashed NWFP, especially areas bordering Afghanistan, flooding the roads and bridges linking the two countries.

The UN refugees agency, in collaboration with Pakistan, started repatriation of Afghans living in different areas of the country in March this year. So far, about 263,000 Afghans - 203,000 unregistered and 60,000 registered - have been facilitated in their journey back home.

According to the spokesman, there are still about 2.1 million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan.

The UNHCR spokesman said the repatriation process had been expedited, adding that as many as 2,000 to 2,500 Afghans would go back daily.

All the refugees, who want to return to their country on voluntary basis, are provided an aid package by the UN agency carrying $100 per head.

Earlier, Pakistan launched registration of Afghan refugees living here in October 2006 in order to facilitate their safe return.

Upto February 2007, as many as 2.15 million refugees got themselves registered and received their Proof of Registration (PoR) cards. However, an estimated 300,000 million remained unregistered, who were given another chance to go back to their country voluntarily until April 15.

They were also promised the aid package the refugees agency had announced to encourage their return. About 203,000 Afghans took advantage of the opportunity and went back.

The remaining 97,000 refugees opted not to go back and were subsequently declared illegal here. They also waived their entitlement to the UNHCR aid package.

After that the second phase of repatriation for PoR cardholders was initiated from April 16 that continued till June 29, but had to be suspended due to the flash floods in the country and especially in NWFP.

During the last two and a half months, about 60,000 refugees were facilitated in their repatriation.

The UNHCR has further advised the Afghans not to move until further notice as the Voluntary Repatriation Centre would not process anyone for departure until the roads and bridges were repaired and declared fit for travel.