The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Peshawar branch announced on Thursday the arrest of six Afghan nationals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for their alleged involvement in forging Pakistani identity cards.
An estimated 1.7 million undocumented Afghan immigrants reside in Pakistan as of October 2023. In response to illegal activities, the government initiated the first phase of repatriation for what it termed “undocumented aliens” in November of last year. The second phase is now set to target individuals with Afghan Citizenship Cards (ACC), excluding those with Pakistan Origin Cards.
The FIA spokesperson stated, “Six Afghan nationals involved in forging Pakistani identity cards have been arrested.” One suspect was apprehended at the Torkham border, which connects Afghanistan and Pakistan, while five others were arrested from a hostel in Peshawar.
The first arrest was of an Afghan citizen named Najibullah at the Torkham border, where authorities recovered a Pakistani Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) and an Afghan Tazkira (identity card). According to the FIA, preliminary investigations revealed that Najibullah had entered Pakistan through the Pak-Afghan border in Balochistan’s Chaman district and obtained a Pakistani CNIC and passport through a cleric in Quetta.
Using information provided by Najibullah, the FIA arrested five additional Afghan nationals with forged Pakistani documents from Usmania Hostel in Peshawar. “Various Pakistani CNICs and passports, along with Afghan Tazkiras, were recovered from the suspects,” the FIA spokesperson noted, adding that operations are ongoing to apprehend the agent responsible for the forgery.
The FIA also mentioned that the detained suspects intended to travel to Saudi Arabia via Kabul using the forged documents. The investigation will determine any possible involvement of employees from the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) and passport offices.
In September of last year, Lt Gen Munir Afsar, chairman of Nadra, informed a Senate panel that some Nadra staff and external factors were implicated in the issuance of fake CNICs to foreigners. He reported that action had been taken against Nadra employees, resulting in the suspension of around 84 officials for their involvement in illegal activities.
Raids are frequently conducted to apprehend those engaged in forging Pakistani documents. Last month, the Punjab Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) arrested a senior Al-Qaeda leader who had obtained a Pakistani identity card while being an Afghan national.
According to state-run Radio Pakistan, as of August 4, 675,190 Afghans have returned to their country as part of the deportation initiative.
