PESHAWAR, Dec 3: United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has denied reports of retaliation against non-Pakhtoon Afghan refugees in Malakand division and other parts of the Frontier province.

The UNHCR officials termed the reports baseless and concocted, saying that not a single incident had been reported from any part of the NWFP and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

The agency spokesman Naiz Ahmad said here on Monday,”This is all false and lies,” adding that there was no resentment among local population against Afghan refugees, particularly non-Pakhtoon in any part of the NWFP and Fata.

The NWFP government also contradicted reports about the harassment of non-Pakhtoon Afghans in Malakand division after the killing of Pakistani nationals in Kabul and northern Afghanistan.

The official sources said that the government was monitoring the situation and no such incident had been reported so far.

The sources said that the leadership of Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat-i- Mohammadi (TNSM) whose workers had gone missing in Mazar-i-Sharif and other parts of Afghanistan had instructed its activists not to retaliate against the refugees.

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