Security forces on Thursday halted an operation to evict Afghans from a sprawling refugee camp near the border following clashes that left four people dead, officials said.
The refugees at Jungle Pir Alizai camp near the south-western town of Chaman have now been asked to leave voluntarily by the middle of next month, said paramilitary forces spokesman Colonel Masood Ahmad. "We have halted the operation and asked the refugees to vacate the camp by June 15 after talks with their representatives on Wednesday night," Ahmad told AFP.
The Afghans fought with police and paramilitary troops after they moved into the camp on Wednesday and used bulldozers to demolish houses and shops. Four refugees were shot dead and 16 people injured. The camp is one of four near the Afghan border that Pakistan said in February it would close down as part of security measures to curb the movement of Taliban militants.
Hundreds of thousands of refugees living in the four camps were asked either to return to Afghanistan or move to other camps being set up by authorities away from the border.
More than 2.8 million Afghans who fled a quarter-century of instability in their homeland have returned since 2002 under a United Nations assisted voluntary scheme, but almost the same number remain in Pakistan.
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