‘Asylum seekers must not be pushed towards Pakistan’

An Afghan National Army commando stands guard on top of a vehicle along the road in Enjil district of Herat province. Pic/AFP

Pakistani National Security Advisor (NSA) Moeed Yusuf has said that the country cannot accept additional Afghan refugees and the international community is obliged to make arrangements for them inside Afghanistan.

Yusuf said that if a civil war erupts in Afghanistan, the asylum seekers should not be pushed towards Pakistan, according to media reports.

The NSA and Faiz Hameed, head of Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), had embarked on a visit to the US for discussions over Afghanistan and bilateral issues.

While Hameed has left Washington, Yusuf is still in the US. When asked about Pakistan's relations and influence over the Taliban, Yusuf said that they have minimum leverage.

He said that if Pakistan had influence over the group they would have prevented them from destroying the Buddha idols in Bamyan province in the 1990s.

Earlier, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had said the country is already hosting nearly three million Afghan refugees and it does not have the capacity to accept more.

Reports said Tajikistan, a northern neighbour of Afghanistan, has announced to accept up to 100,000 Afghan refugees but also acknowledged to remain cautious while allowing the people in and will not give refuge to those who have worked with the US.

Also read: Pak militant is Jaish chief's kin, Pulwama conspirator

Rockets hit Kandahar airport, flights suspended

Flights in Afghanistan's Kandahar airport were suspended on Sunday after rockets struck the nation's second main international airport, a local official confirmed. "The initial information found Taliban militants fired three rockets at the Kandahar International Airport and two of them struck the runway late Saturday night," the official told Xinhua news agency. "Local authorities were inspecting and trying to repair and reopen the runway as soon as possible," the official said, adding that there were no casualties.

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