The Pakistan government has ordered around 1.7 million unauthorised Afghan asylum seekers to leave the country by November, BBC reported. The development comes amid escalating tensions between the two nations after a spike in militant attacks along the borders of the two nations.


While Pakistan has blamed Afghanistan-based operatives for the attacks, the Taliban regime has denied any role. Last week, a blast at a mosque in Mastung city, near the border with Afghanistan, claimed at least 50 lives during a religious celebration. 


Pakistan's Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti announced the crackdown order on "illegal" Afghans on Tuesday while not directly referring to the militant attacks.


According to the United Nations, there are around 1.3 million Afghans registered as refugees and another 880,000 have received legal status to remain in Pakistan. 


Pakistan has welcomed hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees, particularly since the Taliban stormed to power in Afghanistan in 2021.


Minister Bugti said around 1.7 million people were living in the country "illegally", meaning those who have not yet got the refugee status.  Bugti said those 1.7 million people would have to leave the country by the end of the month either voluntarily or through forced deportation.


"If they do not go...then all the law enforcement agencies in the provinces or federal government will be utilised to deport them," BBC quoted the minister as saying. Bugti, however, refrained from providing any details on how such an operation would be carried out.


He also announced a task force that would identify and confiscate private businesses and assets of the "illegal" Afghans in Pakistan.


Giving details, Bugti said 24 suicide bombings took place along Pakistan's border since January this year. He alleged more than half of them were carried out by militants operating from Afghanistan.


The minister also announced stricter curbss on Afghans entering Pakistan from 1 November, saying only those with visas and passports would be allowed.


Local media outlet APP earlier reported, citing sources in the government, that Pakistan eventually wanted all Afghans living on its land to leave irrespective of the fact whether they had legal status or not.


Afghan officials in Pakistan said local administration officials had already begun rounding up Afghans -- both those with and without legal status to remain, BBC reported.


In a statement on X, the Afghan embassy said more than 1,000 Afghans were detained in the past two weeks.