KARACHI: Pakistan’s immigration authorities on Saturday detained an Iranian national traveling to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on fake documents at the Karachi airport, confirmed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in a statement.
Ameer Yousuf, who was planning to travel to Dubai on a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-213, was interrogated by the authorities who suspected his documents to be fake.
“During the questioning, he could not provide information on his family,” the FIA spokesperson said in a statement. “The accused failed to satisfy the authorities about his place of birth and other related questions.”
Yousaf was subsequently taken to the Anti Human Trafficking Cell in Karachi for further legal action, the spokesperson added.
According to his travel documents seen by Arab News, Yousuf got a fake passport from Pakistani city of Panjgur in southwester Balochistan province bordering Iran.
Last year in October, at least three Iranian nationals were arrested at the Karachi airport after failed attempts to travel to the UAE and Qatar on fake travel documents.
The suspects, Amir Ali and Abdul Samad, were planning to go to Sharjah while Hanif wanted to go to Doha from the southern Pakistani port city.
A day later, immigration officials at the Karachi airport also arrested three other Iranian citizens, Tayyab Raza, Afzal Ahmed and Hamza Maqsood, after their arrival from Iran.
“All three had stamped fake Australian visas on their passports,” the FIA spokesperson said in a statement issued on October 30, 2022.
The FIA also arrested 10 other Iranians from Karachi last September in what was described as a “comprehensive crackdown” in different parts of the city.
The FIA said at the time the foreign nationals obtained Pakistan’s identity cards and travel documents with the help of Pakistani and Iranian agents and wanted to travel to Qatar.
In 2018, 11 Iranian nationals were arrested at the Turbat International Airport in Pakistan’s Balochistan province with fake Pakistani identity cards and passports, which they had used to repeatedly travel to the Middle East since 2014.
Iranian national trying to travel to Dubai on fake documents arrested at Pakistani airport
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Iranian national trying to travel to Dubai on fake documents arrested at Pakistani airport
- Pakistan’s immigration authorities arrested several Iranian citizens last year who wanted to go to Qatar, UAE on fake passports
- In 2018, a group of Iranian nationals were detained in Turbat who had repeatedly traveled to Arab countries on fake documents
Pakistan army hits Afghan Taliban drone storage facility, ammunition depot in Jalalabad
- Around 435 Afghan Taliban fighters killed, over 630 injured in Pakistani military offensive, minister says
- Several countries, global bodies have urged both sides to exercise restraint since the conflict began last week
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army struck a drone storage facility and ammunition depot of Afghan Taliban in Jalalabad, a Pakistani security official said on Monday, following Pakistani strikes on more than 50 locations in Afghanistan amid ongoing hostilities between the neighbors.
Pakistan launched Operation ‘Ghazb lil Haq’ against Afghanistan on the night of Feb. 26 following an attack by Afghanistan on Pakistani military installations along their shared border.
The worst fighting between the two neighbors in years erupted after Pakistani airstrikes targeted what Islamabad called militant hideouts inside Afghanistan on Feb. 21-22, accusing Kabul of harboring Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants behind the attacks on its soil. Afghanistan denies the charge.
A Pakistani security official, who requested anonymity, said the army was continuing “strong retaliatory action” against the Afghan Taliban and blew up multiple border posts, forcing them to abandon their positions.
“Pakistan forces are effectively targeting the bases and military installations of the Fitna Al-Khawarij and the Afghan Taliban,” he said.
“During the effective counter-operation of the Pakistani forces, the ammunition depot and drone storage site of Fitna Al-Khawarij (TTP) and the Afghan Taliban in Jalalabad was destroyed.”
Separately, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said more than 400 Afghan Taliban fighters had been killed and over 630 wounded in the Pakistani military offensive so far.
Pakistan destroyed around 188 check posts and captured 31, according to a post on X by Tarar. Over 180 tanks, armored vehicles and artillery guns were also destroyed in Pakistani air raids at 51 locations across Afghanistan.
On Sunday, Pakistani state media shared a video of what it said were Pakistani soldiers crossing into Afghanistan in the northwest to capture an Afghan post. Pakistan has seized a 32-square-kilometer area of Afghanistan, another Pakistani security official said.
Afghan officials earlier said that dozens of Pakistani soldiers had been killed and several Pakistan posts had been captured by their forces. None of the casualty figures or battlefield claims from either side could be independently verified.
Since the conflict began last week, diplomatic efforts have intensified, with several countries and international bodies calling on both sides to exercise restraint.
The United Nations, along with China and Russia, has called for calm, while US President Donald Trump said Pakistan has the right to defend itself against cross-border militancy.
