4,000 Afghans entered Pakistan with valid documents, no refugee camps along border — minister

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Sunday there were no Afghan refugee camps along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan and 4,000 Afghans had entered Pakistan with valid travel documents since the Taliban’s takeover of the country last month.
The UNHCR has said up to half a million Afghans could flee their homeland by the end of the year. Many fleeing the country are believed to be heading to Pakistan, while another of Afghanistan’s neighbors, Tajikistan, has pledged to accept 100,000 refugees.
Speaking to media at the Torkham border crossing on Sunday during his first visit to the region since the Afghan Taliban’s takeover of Kabul on August 15, Ahmed said he was at the border to show the world that no refugee camps existed there.
“I want to tell … world media in general that 4,000 Afghans have entered Pakistan with valid travel documents and a rather greater number of Afghans have returned to their country after the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul,”the minister said.
“We will provide 21 to 30 days of transit facility to anybody aspiring to enter Pakistan from Afghanistan. After that they would be allowed to go anywhere they want,” he added.
Ahmed said Pakistan would not interfere in the internal affairs of Afghanistan and would not allow anyone to use Pakistani soil against the war-torn nation. He also said Pakistan hoped the Afghan Taliban would not allow anti-Pakistan groups such as the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan to carry out attacks against Pakistan from Afghan soil.
Responding to a question about Pakistan recognizing the Taliban government in Afghanistan, the minister said the decision would be taken by the Pakistani prime minister in consultation with the international community.