DERA GHAZI KHAN, Nov 14: Afghan diplomats, including Mulla Abdus Salam Zaeef, spent a night here on their way to Kandahar via Quetta.

Source said arriving here at around 11pm the party, travelling in two vehicles, decided to stay for night here. The local administration and secret agencies had apparently been alerted. Once the Afghans had registered at Hotel Pakeeza, nobody was allowed to enter it.

Sources said the party, comprising eight people, was given rooms on the ground floor. One of them — not Mulla Zaeef — talked with the district Nazim by telephone. The Nazim, however, denied having talked to any Afghan or Pushtoon during the night.

The diplomats left Dera Ghazi Khan at 6am. The border military police escorted them to Baiwata check post. They crossed the provincial border at 8:20am.

The hotel staff was very reluctant to talk about them. They only said the guests had taken their supper at the hotel and had very calmly watched the coverage of fall of Kabul on cable TV. In the morning, they left without a breakfast taking only tea.