PESHAWAR: Caught between a rock and a hard place, Muallim Khan, a resident of the Dakka area in Afghanistan, says that he can neither visit a hospital in the capital nor seek treatment in neighboring Pakistan.
This is because a notification issued by Peshawar earlier this week bars the entry of Afghan nationals into Pakistan during the first 10 days of Muharram. Around 3,000 Afghan nationals cross the border for reasons of employment and medical treatment every day – a number that will see a massive decline due to the new regulation.
At the receiving end are people like Khan, 55, who says that despite undergoing surgery in Peshawar, he has been unable to return for a checkup that’s long overdue. “The worst part is that we cannot even go to Kabul because the Afghan authorities have banned the entry of people from suburban areas due to strict security during this month [of Muharram],” he said.
Speaking to Arab News, S P Kaukab Farooq, superintendent of police in Peshawar, said that due to the sensitive situation “they (Afghan nationals) are not allowed to enter the city until Ashura (the 10th of Muharram)”.
Besides Peshawar, the districts of Kohat, Tank and D. I. Khan have been marked most sensitive due to their substantial Shiite population who are often targeted by extremist elements for their religious beliefs.
While the rules were much more lax earlier, officials said the Peshawar terror attack in December 2014 --- which killed 132 children from the Army Public School and which the military blamed the Taliban for – led to the tightening of security measures in the area, with passports now a must for entry into Pakistan. “Even if there is a patient to be brought to a hospital, the authorities demand to see their passport first,” Shamsul Islam, a Revenue Officer of the Landikotal subdivision, said.
Islam added that the permits are no longer issued at the border and instead need to be procured from the main cities in Afghanistan.
Ruing the changes in law which limited him from acquiring a passport on time, Wali Gul, a resident of the Nangarhar province in Afghanistan, said: “My 14-year-old daughter died from tuberculosis and liver dysfunction only because I was not granted permission to travel to a hospital in Peshawar. My family and I made repeated requests to the authorities at Torkham border to allow us to shift my daughter to a hospital in Peshawar but they demanded the patient’s passport first.”
Gul’s daughter died by the time he could make the necessary arrangements and finally cross the border. The aggrieved father urged authorities, on both sides of the border, to make temporary arrangements for patients with serious impediments so that they access medical attention on time.
Pakistan’s travel embargo puts Afghan patients at risk
Pakistan’s travel embargo puts Afghan patients at risk
- 10-day ban in place as part of security measures for Muharram
- Rights groups urge authorities to allow patients freedom of movement
Pakistan police detain teen girl radicalized online in suspected suicide bombing plot
- The girl was targeted online by the Baloch Liberation Army, which was designated as a terrorist group by the US this year
- In 2022, a female suicide bomber affiliated with the BLA killed three Chinese teachers near a university campus in Karachi
KARACHI: Police in Pakistan detained a teenage girl who was radicalized and recruited online by an outlawed separatist group to carry out a “major suicide attack,” authorities said Monday.
No criminal charges will be filed and she will be placed under state protection as “a victim rather than a suspect,” Sindh provincial Home Minister Ziaul Hassan said at a news conference.
The girl was detained during a routine police check on buses as she traveled to Karachi, the Sindh province capital, from southwestern Balochistan province to meet a handler, Hassan said.
The girl was targeted online by the Baloch Liberation Army, which was designated as a terrorist group by the United States earlier this year. The group convinced the girl that carrying out an attack would bring her honor and recognition within the Baloch community, similar to other women who have carried out suicide bombings against security forces, Hassan said.
“The girl appeared confused when police officers asked her routine questions,” said Hassan, who added that she was taken to a police facility and disclosed months of contact with militants through social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram.
The girl appeared with her mother at a news conference but her face was covered and her name and age were withheld. Police showed a video statement she made with details about her contacts with BLA and how she agreed to carry out a suicide attack.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar condemned BLA and other separatist groups for luring people toward violence and said detaining the girl prevented a potential large loss of life.
Baloch separatists have waged an insurgency since the early 2000s seeking greater autonomy and in some cases independence from Pakistan while demanding a larger share of natural resources.
Authorities said the group has attempted to increase its use of female attackers in recent years. A female suicide bomber affiliated with BLA killed three Chinese teachers in 2022 near a university campus in Karachi.
