ISLAMABAD:Police claimed on Sunday to have detained 800 Afghan citizens in various parts of the federal capital territory.

“Islamabad police launched a search operation in Bara Kahu, Trinol, Mahar Abadian, Golra and Shams Colony and arrested 800 Afghan nationals,” police said.

“Four hundred Afghan nationals were later released on producing the proof of residence,” officials said. “375 other Afghan nationals had no identity papers, while 25 remaining Afghans have been detained till verification of their identity documents,” police further said.

“Lists of Afghans were compiled on the basis of secret information before the operation,” police said. “Several criminal Afghan residents have also been pointed out and the operation will further step up in coming days,” officials said. Police said that the authorities have decided to deport 375 arrested Afghan nationals from Pakistan.

According to a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the population of Afghan nationals residing in Pakistan has surged to 3.7 million as of June this year, with a mere 1.3 million of them officially registered with the authorities.

Approximately 775,000 unregistered Afghans are currently residing in the country. A significant 68.8% of Afghan citizens in Pakistan have settled in urban or semi-urban areas, while the remaining 31.2% are distributed across 54 different regions including villages.