Pakistan urges Afghanistan not to shelter fleeing tribesmen

Islamabad, June 17: A Pakistani official has asked the

government not to provide shelter for the North Waziristan people fleeing their homes due to the ongoing violence, media reported Tuesday.

"This is inappropriate. The Afghan government should not offer refuge and incentives to the dislocated people on its territory," Dawn online quoted Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan as saying Monday.

Khan also said that the Afghan government was also offering financial incentives to the fleeing tribesman but its repercussions would be very severe for the entire region as Pakistan did not want to interfere in Afghanistan's domestic affairs.

Security forces has sealed checkposts in Ghulam Khan area and other frequented routes along the Afghan border to stop foreign militants from entering Afghanistan from North Waziristan, Khan said.

The Afghan government confirmed that over 6,000 people of North Waziristan have entered Afghanistan's Khost province and has been provided with relief assistance.

The Taliban shura has asked the tribesman to move to areas close to the Afghanistan border instead of proceeding to relief camps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Displaced people from other tribal agencies in Pakistan, including South Waziristan, Kurram and Khyber, have been living in awful conditions in and off camps for as long as seven years.

IANS