QUETTA, Nov 19: Balochistan authorities had arrested 16 Pakistani suspects on Pakistan-Afghan border, said the Secretary,Home, Azmat Haneef Orakzai, at a press briefing here on Monday.

He said that some of them were armed, and added that they were being interrotaged.

Besides, Mr Orakzai said two Saudi nationals and six other people. including five women, were also arrested in the border area recently. Of them, three women were Yemeni nationals, one Afghan and one Pakistani. The man, accompanying the women, was a Pakistani national. he added.

Replying to a question, Mr Orakzai said secruity on the border had been further tightened in the wake of Taliban’s retreat from northern parts of their country.

Replying to a question about the total number of fresh refugees in Balochistan, he said around 6,000 were staying in a staging camp near Chaman. Over 70 per cent of them were women and children, he said and added that only sick, handicapped and those in urgent need of help had been allowed to stay in the camp.

Asked about the refugees who had entered Pakistan through unfrequented routes, the Home Secretary said that their exact number could not be known.

He said that their number was estimated at around 10,000.—APP