ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign minister said Thursday that he will visit Kabul in the coming days, as Islamabad’s campaign to expel Afghans has forced nearly 60,000 into Afghanistan.
Islamabad has previously said it will deport more than 800,000 Afghans because they are linked to “terrorist” and narcotics activities, but analysts say the move is politically motivated.
“Preparatory meetings have been ongoing and hopefully, within days, I will be visiting Kabul for a day to break this logjam which is there for the last few years,” said Mohammad Ishaq Dar, the foreign minister, who also serves as deputy prime minister.
Pakistan was one of just three countries that recognized the Taliban’s first government in the 1990s and was accused of covertly supporting their insurgency against NATO forces.
But their relationship has soured as violence in Pakistan’s border regions has soared since the Taliban regained power in Kabul in 2021.
Last year was the deadliest year in Pakistan for a decade, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of allowing militants to take shelter in Afghanistan from where they plan attacks.
The Taliban government denies the charge.
On Tuesday, the International Organization for Migration said Pakistan has expelled nearly 60,000 Afghans since the start of April.
The UN says nearly three million Afghans live in Pakistan, many who have been there for decades or were born there, after fleeing successive conflicts.
The Pakistan government has canceled the residence permits of more than 800,000 Afghans and warned those who are in Pakistan awaiting relocation to other countries that they must leave by the end of April.
More than 1.3 million who hold Proof of Registration cards issued by the UN refugee agency have been told to leave the capital and the neighboring city of Rawalpindi.
Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan, this month said the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) militant group was the top issue straining ties.
“TTP is a big challenge that can’t be tolerated. Afghanistan has to work with us on this. If they are not working on this, then all deals are off,” said Sadiq, who is currently visiting Afghanistan.
The TTP is a separate but closely linked group to the Afghan Taliban that carries out frequent attacks on Pakistani security officials.
Pakistan foreign minister to visit Kabul ‘within days’
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Pakistan foreign minister to visit Kabul ‘within days’
- Islamabad has previously said it will deport more than 800,000 Afghans because they are linked to ‘terrorist’ and narcotics activities
- On Tuesday, the International Organization for Migration said Pakistan has expelled nearly 60,000 Afghans since the start of April
Locals in Niger say ‘terrorists’ killed 25 near Mali
- “Twenty-five self-defense militia fell on Thursday in terrorist ambushes,” a former mayor said
- The surrounding Tillaberi region is an area of operations of the Sahel branch of the Daesh militant group
ABIDJAN: Local sources in western Niger said “terrorists” killed 25 members of a militia in several villages near the Mali border.
“Twenty-five self-defense militia fell on Thursday in terrorist ambushes,” a former mayor in the commune of Anzourou told AFP — a toll confirmed by a leader from a local civil association.
“There were 25 young self-defense fighters who lost their lives and three others who were wounded and evacuated” to hospitals in Tillaberi town and Niamey, the latter source said.
The surrounding Tillaberi region is an area of operations of the Sahel branch of the Daesh militant group.
Conflict-monitoring NGO ACLED said that in 2025 Tillaberi became the deadliest region in the central Sahel, with more than 1,200 deaths recorded.
It blamed the violence mainly on the Daesh in the Sahel group, followed by the Nigerien army and the Al-Qaeda-linked Group to Support Islam and Muslims (JNIM).
The association source said the victims came from four neighboring villages — Doukou Makani, Doukou Djinde, Doukou Saraou and Doukou Koirategui.
The Anzourou district is made up of around 50 villages and hamlets in Tillaberi, which borders near the area between Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, long the scene of deadly militant attacks.
Niger has been run by a military junta since a coup in July 2023.
For the last decade, the country has been blighted by deadly militant attacks. Since the beginning of the year, there have been nearly 2,000 deaths, according to ACLED.
With the Nigerien army struggling to contain the attacks, it has tolerated the creation of self-defense militias by villagers, leading to bloody clashes with militants.
In December last year, the military regime in Niamey announced a “general mobilization” and the “requisition” of people and property to better fight the Islamists.
Niger has created a 6,000-strong joint force with Mali and Burkina Faso, countries also run by the military and facing militant violence.
