KARACHI (Oct 15) – Several people were injured on Wednesday when protesters clashed with police during a demolition drive at an Afghan refugee settlement on the outskirts of Karachi, local officials said.
The operation, carried out in the Afghan Basti area, was part of a broader clean-up initiative targeting abandoned structures left behind by refugees who had recently returned to Afghanistan.
Senior Superintendent of Police (West) Tariq Mastoi said around 8,000 Afghan residents had already repatriated, leaving behind concrete homes and shops that were being encroached upon by land grabbers.
“The demolition is aimed at preventing illegal occupation of the vacated land. There were only minor skirmishes during the operation, caused mostly by rumours,” Mastoi said.
Authorities have intensified actions across Sindh province against undocumented Afghans following Islamabad’s directive for all illegal immigrants to leave Pakistan by October 31. Human rights groups, however, have raised concerns about the humanitarian implications of the mass evictions and demolitions.