Two weeks since Pakistan began expelling undocumented Afghans living in the country, over two lakh have crossed over into Afghanistan many with little other than the clothes on their backs, the daily numbers rose to 15,000 when border crossings in Balochistan province opened earlier this week.
Pakistan claims those being expelled are the undocumented Afghans numbering over one million.
But look closer and one finds even those with residence permits in Pakistan have been told to pack and go. Apparently the the army wants them out, convinced they are a threat to national security , witness the recent attack on the Mianwali airforce base by the newly constituted Tehreek e Jihad Pakistan that wants to establish Islamic law in the country. It also killed 14 Pakistani military personnel in an attack in Balochistan recently
Add to that the rising incidence of attacks on the military by the older outfit called the Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan, which wants to expel the Pakistani army from predominantly Pashtun Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and of course set up an Islamic Caliphate in Pakistan, reason for the Pak army to want to destabilise Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers.
The Pakistani army may have another nefarious purpose to blur its role as a haven for terrorist groups by directing attention to Afghanistan and its Taliban rulers.
The expulsions are taking place even though Pakistan’s army knows that Afghanistan’s internationally isolated Taliban regime cannot cope with the influx of refugees, the refugees are a weapon intended to blackmail the Taliban to bend to Islamabad’s will.
