The interior ministry has instructed law enforcement agencies across the country to arrest Afghan nationals residing without valid visas beginning July 10, 2026, as part of an intensified deportation campaign. This directive was issued in a letter dated July 28, addressed to authorities in all four provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, and the Islamabad Capital Territory.
The ministry emphasized the urgency to “expedite the repatriation and deportation” of Afghan nationals living illegally in Pakistan. It mandated that any Afghan found without a valid visa after July 10 must be immediately detained. Furthermore, law enforcement agencies are required to submit daily reports starting July 11, detailing the number of Afghan nationals apprehended, the actions taken, and their current status.
This order came a day after a deadly assault on a Pakistan Rangers camp in Karachi, which resulted in the martyrdom of three Rangers personnel and injuries to four others. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) stated that attackers detonated an explosion at the camp’s main gate before attempting to breach its perimeter security. The Rangers swiftly repelled the attack, killing three militants and capturing one wounded assailant.
The captured attacker identified himself as Usman Ali, a member of the India-backed terrorist group Jamaat ul Ahrar. He revealed he was from Jalalabad in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province and named three other militants—Abdul Hadi, Janan, and Umar Farooq—who participated in the attack. him, all militants received training in Afghanistan, including instruction on suicide vests and other militant tactics under a trainer named Umar Qari.
In a significant diplomatic response, Pakistan’s Foreign Office summoned the Afghan Charge d’Affaires and issued a strong demarche condemning the attack. FO spokesperson Tahir Andrabi confirmed the Afghan envoy was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the previous night. Simultaneously, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan, Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani, conveyed a similar demarche to the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul.
