'Unwelcome' Afghans flee border war zone

Islamabad: Afghan refugees were flowing over the border from a Pakistani battle zone on Tuesday after officials accused them of links with Taliban militants and ordered them out, police said.

Pakistani authorities have told Afghans living in the Bajur tribal region to go back to their homeland and quit an area where troops have been fighting a bloody war with insurgents.

The order risked adding to the humanitarian crisis resulting from the two-month-old military offensive in a long-neglected region that had become a base for militants fighting on both sides of the frontier.

US officials concerned about the escalating insurgency in Afghanistan have praised the operation, which the Pakistani military claims has killed more than 1,000 insurgents. It has given no figure for civilian casualties.

Bacha Khan, a police official at the Toorwandi border post in Bajur, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that refugees had been crossing steadily into Afghanistan, while others had moved to other parts of Pakistan.

Leaflets

He had no figures for how many Afghans had left since officials distributed leaflets in Bajur last week telling them to go.

However, he said an estimated 20,000 refugees had returned home in recent weeks. Thousands more had moved to other parts of Pakistan, he said.

An Afghan community leader in Khar, Bajur's main town, urged the government to provide transport to the refugees who complied with the order.

"We are poor people, and we don't have enough money to pay for the buses," Ghulam Jan said.

Authorities threatened to deport those who resist. Iqbal Khattak, a government official in Khar said 45 Afghans had been detained so far and some Afghan-owned shops sealed.

Pakistani officials say the fighting in Bajur has displaced up to half a million people - roughly half the population of the region. Most have found refuge in nearby areas of Pakistan with relatives or in rough camps.

The UN refugee agency said last week that 20,000 people had moved into the neighbouring Afghan province of Kunar.