The bitter relations between the Taliban and Pakistan are not showing any signs of abating. Meanwhile, five Afghans were brutally murdered on Pakistani soil. The bodies of these five people were found hanging on a pole near a college in the city of Dulbundiin near the border of Afghanistan and Iran in Balochistan province. These bodies have been returned with great difficulty. The Kabul embassy in Islamabad said on Thursday that the five bullet-riddled bodies hanging from an electric pole in southwestern Pakistan last week were of Afghan citizens and have been handed over to their families.
In fact, confessions were made about the murder of Murad Notezai, a prominent leader of the Iran-based banned terrorist organization Jaish al-Adl. According to sources, the terrorist group active in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan region kidnapped and killed these people, possibly in retaliation for the murder of its leader. The bodies were found on Friday near a college in the city of Dalbandin.
Pakistan is having a tough time returning the dead body
A statement from the Afghan embassy in the Pakistani capital said the bodies were handed over to families on Wednesday at the Spin Boldak-Chaman border shared between the neighbours. Their consulate in Balochistan made “serious efforts” to return the bodies to relatives waiting in Afghanistan.
“Unknown people brutally killed five Afghans,” said a statement shared with AFP on Thursday. Balochistan, Pakistan’s least populous but largest province, is home to numerous militant groups, some fighting for independence or a bigger stake in the region’s mineral resources, with security forces often the target of bombings. Islamist groups are also behind sectarian violence in the region.
It is worth noting that around 600,000 Afghans have travelled to Pakistan since the Taliban took back power in 2021, and imposed their strict version of Islam. However, since last year, Islamabad has launched a drive to expel large numbers of undocumented Afghans, as relations with Kabul have soured over security.