Pakistan ordered the deportation of about 50,000 Afghan refugees in an insurgency-wracked tribal region amid a major military offensive against al-Qaida and Taliban fighters. The government said it was expelling all Afghan refugees in the Bajur tribal region, alleging many of them have links to militant groups. Police in the town of Khar in Bajur arrested 25 Afghans and said they would soon be deported. "The orders have been issued to the tribal police to push all of them (refugees) out," said local government official Abdul Haseeb, adding that their homes would be bulldozed to keep them from returning.
A government offensive in Bajur that began in early August has claimed some 1,000 lives. It comes amid increased U.S. pressure on the government of President Asif Ali Zardari to crackdown on militants in the restive border region where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding.
Washington has long complained Pakistan is unwilling or unable to take strong action against the extremists.
Zardari has pledged his cooperation in the fight against terrorism, but must tread carefully given strong domestic opposition to his country's alliance with Washington. This balancing act has become increasingly complicated by an upswing in U.S. missile strikes against suspected al-Qaida and Taliban hide-outs in the northwest and more recently by Zadari's comments to The Wall Street Journal suggesting he had consented to the strikes.