Afghan nationals cannot reside in Islamabad after Dec 31: Mohsin Naqvi

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Wednesday announced that Afghan nationals without no objection certificates (NOCs) will not be permitted to stay in Islamabad from December 31 onwards. 

Talking to the media in Islamabad, Naqvi said, “Any Afghan citizen wishing to stay in Islamabad must obtain an NOC from the deputy commissioner’s office. After December 31, they will not be allowed to stay in the capital city without it,” he said. 

His comments come after it emerged that of the 610 individuals arrested during the crack down on the Pakistan Threek-e-Insaf protesters, 37 were Afghan nationals.

Security sources claimed that the PTI protesters in possession of 39 weapons including advanced firearms. 

Earlier, Information Minister Atta Tarar alleged that armed Afghan nationals were part of the PTI protest. 

Naqvi said that restoring normalcy to the capital was the priority of the government. He said that the remaining hurdles and blockades along various roads of Islamabad would be removed by the evening. 

He dismissed the allegations that the law enforcement personnel fired bullets on the PTI protesters, which lead to 33 deaths, calling it as propaganda. 

During the crack down on the PTI protesters, over 170 law enforcement personnel were injured 22 police vehicles damaged while a prison van was set on fire.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, who suddenly surfaced in Mansehra after disappearing along with former first lady Bushra Bibi from Islamabad’s D-Chowk, announced that their sit-in protest was still ongoing. His annoucement came hours after clashes between security forces and PTI supporters in the capital’s high-security Red Zone.

Addressing a press conference at the residence of KP Speaker Babar Saleem Swati in Mansehra, Gandapur said that their sit-in “is still ongoing”, and it will not end till PTI founder Imran Khan ordered so.

Tensions escalated late on Tuesday as PTI supporters approached the heavily barricaded D-Chowk, a focal point for political protests in Islamabad. Security forces responded with heavy teargas shelling to disperse the demonstrators, preventing them from advancing further.

The PTI said the decision to call off the sit-in was temporary but did not provide a timeline for resuming the protest.