Afghan envoy asks PTI chief to look into alleged harassment of refugees in K-P region

Afghanistan's ambassador to Pakistan Dr. Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal met Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan and conveyed his concerns over alleged harassment of Afghan refugees in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where the party is in power.

Zakhilwal also called for ending tensions and removing mistrust between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"We agreed that tensions and mistrust is not in the interests of either side," the Express Tribune quoted Zakhilwal as saying after the meeting.

"It was hoped that the recent meeting between the presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan in Tashkent will have positive results for bilateral relations as the meeting was aimed at lowering tensions and enhancing trust," he added.

Zakhilwal said the issue of harassment of Afghan refugees in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa by the police was also raised during the meeting and stressed that they should not be made a scapegoat.

He demanded that the PTI chief direct his party's government in K-P region to show respect for Afghan refugees and PTI chairman in return promised that he would talk to the chief minister and the police chief and ask them to stop harassment of the refugees.

Meanwhile, according to reports, Pakistani police force has detained over 2,000 unregistered Afghan refugees in Peshawar yesterday.

Pakistani officials said they set June 30 as a deadline for Afghan immigrants to get themselves registered in Pakistan.

Approximately, three million Afghan refugees in Pakistan and 1.5 million of them are unregistered refugees.