Taliban rule|The situation in Afghanistan

Afghan refugees return to Afghanistan from Pakistan. Rahmat Gul / AP  

 

Taliban rule|The situation in Afghanistan 

Pakistan expels nearly two million Afghans  

 

A large number of Afghan refugees seeking asylum in Pakistan are being ordered to leave the country, the BBC reports. It is estimated that there are 1.7 million people. The refugees must have left Pakistan by November at the latest.  

 

The announcement comes after a period of deteriorating relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Several violent attacks have taken place along the countries' border, and Pakistan has accused Afghanistan's Taliban government of having links to the attack, something the Taliban have denied.  

 

Local media have previously reported that Pakistan wanted to throw out all Afghans - even those with residence permits.  

 

Taliban in Afghanistan. Siddiqullah Alizai / AP  

Zaki fled the Taliban: "Death threats against the family"  

 

Thousands of Afghans have fled across the mountains in the north to neighboring Tajikistan following the Taliban's takeover in 2021, AFP reports. Bibikhawa Zaki, 25, and her family already left Afghanistan a few months before the Taliban offensive. Since then, she has been waiting to start a new life in Canada – a dream country for many Afghan refugees. 

 

- The Taliban attacked my sister-in-law. They issued death threats against my family. We had to leave, says Bibikhawa Zaki.  

 

To make her time in Tajikistan feel meaningful, she has started training soccer together with 50 other Afghan women. 

 

- When we play football, I am happy. Then I don't think about everything else, she says.  

 

Pakistan map