Pak arrests over 300 Afghans deported from Saudi

Karachi, Jan 25: Pakistani police have arrested over 300 Afghan nationals in the southern city of Karachi who had gone to perform the Muslim Haj ritual on fake Pakistani passports, an official said today.

The Afghan nationals were arrested at Karachi's airport after they were deported from Saudi Arabia, Abdul Malik, a senior immigration official told Reuters.

''They are in our custody and are under investigation,'' he said.

Immigration authorities arrested 183 Afghan nationals yesterday night and another 122, including women, on Saturday.

The government says there are more than three million Afghan refugees living and working in Pakistan, amongst the largest concentrations of refugees anywhere in the world.

More than a million Afghan refugees have been registered by the government since last October in a drive to provide them with official identification.

REUTERS

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