PESHAWAR, Dec 2: Families failed to find a clue to their near and dear ones who had crossed into Afghanistan for participating in Jihad against the US and its allied forces, Dawn learnt in a random survey on Sunday.

According to statistics hundreds of Pakistanis have either been killed or gone missing in the Afghan war after the fall of Kabul and other cities.

Most of the volunteers, belonged to the NWFP or Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), had entered Afghanistan in November following in the footsteps of Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Mohammadi (TNSM) chief Maulana Sufi Mohammad.

The family members of the Jihadi youth told this scribe in Talash, a town of Dir, that following the decree of local religious leaders over 7,000 young armed volunteers had left for Afghanistan from different parts of Malakand division went. Out of those only few managed to return home.

The volunteers and their mentors left Temergara for Bajaur Agency and then proceeded to Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province.

Fazl Akbar, a social organiser, said unconfirmed reports in newspapers killing of PoWs in Qala-i-Jangi, Mazar-i-Sharif, had worsened worries of the families. People were desperately developing contacts across the border to trace their missing relatives, he added.

Faizul Hassan, 28, who is running a small business in Talash town has lost contact with his father, a retired army man. He said: “I just want to confirm whether my father is dead or alive.” He said his father had talked to him by telephone from Mazar-i-Sharif, a day before the fall of the city to the forces of Northern Alliance.

He said his father with 15 other villagers had crossed the border along with the TNSM chief.

All of them have gone missing in Afghanistan, except Maulana Soofi Mohammad who is in Dara Ismail Khan jail.

Official sources said Soofi had refused meetings with people in jail, except his family members.

Shamsur Rehman, 56, a resident of the same locality has lost an under-graduate, 24-year-old son. According to him, he had got a clue from some eyewitnesses that his son was killed by Northern Alliance forces near Sarobi, some 70 kilometres west of Jalalabad.

“My son went Afghanistan to fight against US forces, not against Afghans. I am not defending my son, but the alliance forces should treat the held people as PoWs,” he argued.

Politico-religious  parties, particularly Jamaat-i-Islami  and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, are holding TNSM chief responsible alleging that he pushed a large number of innocent people into the war without any planning and strategy.

Mohammad Yousaf, having 12-year experience in guerrilla warfare, said: “I had asked Soofi to stop innocent people from going to this horrific war, but he did not move from his stand.”

Locals are also fearing retaliation against the Afghan refugees, living in various parts of Malakand division, after the massacre and inhumane treatment with Pakistanis in Afghanistan.

People said a number of refugees, particularly Dari- speaking who were getting education in religious schools in Dir district, were fleeing the area to other places.