600 Afghan nationals registered at Torkham

LANDIKOTAL: More than 600 Afghan nationals were registered at the Torkham border for issuance of the gate passes during the last one week as the political administration extended the date for registration, an official said on Tuesday.
Senior manager, National Logistics Cell (NLC), Torkham, Col (R) Iftikharuddin Shinwari told The News that Khyber Agency’s Political Agent Shahab Ali Shah had set October 10 for registration of Afghans. “Now the deadline has been extended to facilitate more Afghan nationals,” he said, adding, the aim behind the issuance of gate passes was to regulate the movement of Afghan nationals.
Shinwari said the process was started on September 23 to streamline the entry of the Afghan nationals into Pakistan. He said staff deficiency at the Nadra office in Torkham had slowed down the registration process.
He informed that 612 persons had so far been registered and would soon get their gate passes.
The NLC official said all the Afghan citizens would need a Pakistani guarantor before getting a gate pass.
He warned that those who violate the law or overstay in Pakistan would be arrested.
Passport officer at Torkham, Muhammad Irshad Mohmand told The News that every Afghan national would go through biometric process. The process would continue so that maximum people could get the gate pass, he added.
However, he said Pakistanis and Afghan nationals with valid travel documents had been exempted from getting the card.
When contacted, Afghan border officials said that they were against the gate pass system.
Sources in Afghanistan told this scribe that Afghan border authorities tore many receipts issued by Nadra to Afghan nationals for gate passes.
In the past, Afghan officials and refugees had torn down the biometric system installed by Pakistan government at the Chaman border between the two countries.