Pakistanis can no longer enter Afghanistan without passports

ISLAMABAD: Afghan authorities prohibited the entry of Pakistan nationals into Kabul without proper documents, officials said on Sunday. The move comes seven months after Islamabad introduced stringent border control measures in a bid to "prevent the movement of militants into Pakistan." According to experts, thousands of tribesmen may bear the brunt of the policy as they have families on both sides.

 Keeping in view the new order, authorities displayed banners at various points in Torkham reminding Pakistanis that they would not be permitted to cross the border and enter Afghanistan without their passports from January 1, 2017. Security on the Pak-Afghan border was also tightened and extra contingents of security personnel deployed at various points.

According to officials, the Shinwari tribals, living on both sides of the Durand Line, have been exempted as they possess temporary `Rahdari cards issued by the Khyber Agency political administration. However, others who had fled to Afghanistan, would be properly interrogated on suspicion of links to Taliban. Afghans have long blamed Pakistan for violence by Taliban insurgents in their country, an accusation that Islamabad denies.

Thousands fled Pakistan following the launch of military operation in tribal areas in June 2014. According to sources in the secretariat for tribal regions, around 93,000 Pakistani families are registered in Afghanistan.