Stranded Afghans gather in border town as Eid approaches.
LANDI KOTAL -- Scores of illegal stranded Afghans continue to enter Khyber through various routes for their onward journey to Afghanistan via Torkham despite an official ban on their entry to the tribal district prior to opening of the border for pedestrian crossing on every Saturday, according to sources.
Sources in Landi Kotal and Jamrud told Dawn that most of those stranded Afghans were also without proper legal travel documents. They were eager to avail the opportunity provided to them by the Pakistan government to go back to their country without producing any travel documents during the immigration process at Torkham border at the time of their return, they added.
Pakistan had made the possession of legal travel documents for both Afghans and Pakistanis for cross border travelling via Torkham and Chaman since 2016.
Sources said that most of the returning Afghans were daily wagers and factory workers, who had mostly come from Punjab and some cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They now wait for their return to their country.
They said that the returning Afghans paid high fare to the taxicabs and also bribed the personnel of law enforcement agencies posted at different checkposts along Peshawar-Torkham Highway to cross the border prior to Eidul Fitr.
Locals say 1500-2000 Afghans living in mosques and shops in Landi Kotal bazaar
Peshawar Capital City Police Officer Mohammad Ali Gandapur during his recent visit to Landi Kotal had ordered local police not to allow Afghans beyond Karkhano Market checkpost in order to avoid rush and congestion in Landi Kotal and Torkham prior to opening of border on Saturdays.
However, the ban on entry to Khyber is violated by stranded Afghans and local police alike as hundreds of people reach Landi Kotal on daily basis.
Sources said that local transporters, mostly taxi drivers, exploited the situation in their favour by increasing fares almost three to four times.
There are also reports of taxicab owners swapping their passengers with drivers of Suzuki vans to deceive the police posted at checkposts. The vans are mostly used for transportation of local passengers.
Noorul Amin, a taxi driver, alleged during a press conference in Landi Kotal that the...
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