The number of Afghans turning to Pakistan has been on the rise in recent years following the escalation of violence in Afghanistan. According to officials, an average of 9,000 Afghans is entering Pakistan every day, up from 7,000 before.
Many people have been killed and injured in targeted killings, shootings, and explosions in Afghanistan in recent months.
Leading Afghan journalist and analyst Sami Yousafzai disagreed with VOA that the increase in the number of visitors to Pakistan was due to an increase in violence and terrorism in Afghanistan.
He said there were other reasons for the increase in the number of Afghans coming to Pakistan.
On the other hand, Latif Khan, a young man from Afghanistan who came on Saturday, says that violence and terrorism have increased in Afghanistan’s major cities. According to him, small magnetic bombs have recently been used in terrorist incidents, which has caused concern among war-affected civilians.
Latif Khan hails from Dzhalal-Abad, the capital of Afghanistan’s border province of Nangarhar, where three female journalists and a female doctor were recently ambushed and killed in separate incidents.
He said that after these incidents, the number of women working in various public and private institutions, especially in educational institutions, was declining.
In Torkham, Pakistani officials say women now make up more than 20 percent of the population coming to Pakistan from Afghanistan, up from less than 10 percent in the past.
However, Sami Yousafzai says that there are still more than 2.5 million Afghans living in Pakistan and not only these people but also their relatives are coming and going between the two countries on a daily basis. Similarly, many people come to Peshawar, Islamabad, and other cities for treatment.
