Taliban enraged by ultimatum to expel illegal Afghans, said- this is unacceptable

A spokesman for the Taliban administration in Kabul said on Wednesday that Pakistan’s threat to forcibly expel illegal Afghan migrants is unacceptable. He said that Afghans are not responsible for Pakistan’s security problems. Estimating that 1.73 million Afghan immigrants are living in Pakistan without any legal status, Pakistan’s caretaker government has set a November 1 deadline for them to leave or face forced expulsion. Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban administration in Kabul, said in a post on the social media platform X that Pakistan’s behavior towards Afghan refugees is unacceptable.

To help justify the crackdown, Pakistan Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti alleged that 14 of the 24 suicide bombings in Pakistan this year had been carried out by Afghan civilians. A Taliban spokesman rejected that claim. Mujahid said that the Pakistani side should reconsider its plan. Afghan refugees do not add to Pakistan’s security problems. As long as they leave Pakistan voluntarily, the country should tolerate them.

Pakistan’s ultimatum to the immigrants, most of whom have been living in the country for years, came after a meeting of civilian and military leaders to review the law and order situation on Friday following two suicide bombings that killed at least 57 people were killed. Bugti said that one of the suicide bombers was an Afghan national, and he also accused India’s intelligence agency of being involved.