ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top court has scheduled a hearing to review objections raised by its registrar office over a petition seeking a restraining order against forced deportation of Afghan nationals, Pakistani media reported on Sunday.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan decided to hear the objections to the plea after an “eager wait” of 18 days, Pakistan’s Express Tribune newspaper reported, citing a statement from the petitioner.
The statement emphasized the responsibility outlined in Article 184 (3), underscoring the top court’s role in preventing “systemic violations” of fundamental rights. Under the article, the Supreme Court can act on its own or on the application of any person, with the condition if it considers that any of the fundamental rights is violated.
“Justice Yahya Afridi is set to review the appeal in his chamber on November 20,” the Express Tribune report read.
Pakistan last month ordered all undocumented foreigners, mostly Afghans, to leave the country by November 1.
Pakistan’s Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has said the expulsion plan was a response to the unwillingness of the Taliban-led administration to act against militants using Afghanistan to carry out attacks in Pakistan.
The Taliban have said the security issues are a domestic matter for Islamabad and called on Pakistan to stop deportations.
However, a crackdown by Pakistani authorities to round up undocumented migrants and deport them to their home countries has piled on misery on millions of Afghan refugees, who have been living in Pakistan for decades and some of them never set foot in Afghanistan.
Nearly 300,000 Afghans have since left Pakistan, while Islamabad has brushed aside calls from the United Nations (UN), Western embassies and rights groups to halt the deportations.
Pakistan top court to review objections over petition seeking to restrain deportation of Afghans
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Pakistan top court to review objections over petition seeking to restrain deportation of Afghans
- Pakistan last month ordered all undocumented foreigners, mostly Afghans, to leave the country by November 1
- Nearly 300,000 Afghans have since left Pakistan, while Islamabad has brushed aside calls to halt the deportations
Death toll in Pakistan wedding suicide blast rises to six
- Attack targeted members of local peace committee in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan
- Peace committees are community-based groups that report militant activity to security forces
PESHAWAR: The death toll from a suicide bombing at a wedding ceremony in northwestern Pakistan rose to six, police said on Saturday, after funeral prayers were held for those killed in the attack a day earlier.
The bomber detonated explosives during a wedding gathering in the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, injuring more than a dozen, some of them critically.
“The death toll has surged to six,” said Nawab Khan, Superintendent of Police for Saddar Dera Ismail Khan. “Police have completed the formalities and registered the case against unidentified attackers.”
“It was a suicide attack and the Counter Terrorism Department will further investigate the case,” he continued, adding that security had been stepped up across the district to prevent further incidents.
No militant group has claimed responsibility for the blast so far.
Khan cautioned against speculation, citing ongoing militancy in the area, and said the investigation was being treated with “utmost seriousness.”
The explosion targeted the home of a member of a local peace committee, which is part of community-based groups that cooperate with security forces and whose members have frequently been targeted by militants in the past.
Some media reports also cited a death toll of seven, quoting police authorities.
Emergency officials said several of the wounded were taken to hospital soon after the blast.
Militant attacks have intensified in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since the Taliban returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021, with Islamabad accusing Afghan authorities of “facilitating” cross-border assaults, a charge Kabul denies.
