Amid government’s boasting of its efforts in the ongoing evacuation from Kabul, the opposition parties on Saturday expressed concerns over the ‘liberal’ visa policy adopted by the government, fearing infiltration of terrorists in the guise of transit passengers from Afghanistan, Dawn reports.
Criticising the government for not taking the parliament and the opposition into confidence on the situation that emerged after the Aug 15 takeover of Kabul by the Taliban, the country’s major opposition parties raised questions over the government’s handling of the situation, stating that no one knows as to who is making decisions in this regard.
The opposition parties expressed concerns following reports that Pakistan was facilitating those Afghans and other foreigners who wanted to leave Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of most parts of the country and disclosure by federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry during a news conference in Karachi that Pakistan had so far evacuated more than 4,400 people from Afghanistan and as many as 27,000 people had entered Pakistan from Chaman and Torkham borders.
A massive exodus from the war-torn neighbouring country is expected following the Aug 26 blast outside the airport in Kabul resulting in the deaths of over 150 people. Islamabad’s administration had already reportedly taken control of all hotels in the capital for three weeks to arrange accommodation for foreigners being evacuated from Afghanistan. Security measures in and around the hotels have also been beefed up, with police and paramilitary personnel put on high alert.
