Taliban Seeks to Curb Exodus to Pakistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — Soldiers of Afghanistan’s Taliban regime ordered passengers off buses bound for Pakistan on Thursday, trying to stem a tide of refugees that is becoming a crisis for both countries.

Meanwhile, authorities in northwestern Pakistan pushed hundreds of Afghans back into their country.

“The campaign has begun, and we will not allow unregistered Afghan refugees and those who are suspected of involvement in crimes,” Pakistani provincial Home Affairs Secretary Mazhar Ali Shah said.

More than 110,000 refugees have fled to Pakistan to escape a devastating drought and fighting in chaotic Afghanistan in recent months, crowding camps that are ill equipped to handle them.

Pakistan closed its border to Afghan refugees in December, and thousands gather daily at the giant gates of the main crossing at Torkham, 125 miles east of Kabul, the Afghan capital, hoping to get through.

Taliban soldiers told refugees that only those with passports and visas--which very few Afghans possess--were being allowed to cross into Pakistan, and said there was no point in going to Torkham.

The United Nations has warned of a refugee crisis, with millions of Afghans on the move in search of food and water. Some are also fleeing fighting between the Taliban and an armed opposition.

Tens of thousands of refugees are living in squalor at the makeshift Jalozai camp in northwestern Pakistan, where winter temperatures drop below freezing. Most of the newest refugees have only tattered plastic sheets for shelter.

Dozens of children have died from the cold, according to refugees and aid workers.