ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Monday an operation was underway to send back home 4,000 of its residents stranded in Kabul due to the cancelation of flights to Saudi Arabia.
Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, a spokesperson for the Pakistani ministry of foreign affairs, said the first batch of Pakistani nationals was repatriated to their home country on Sunday by road via the Torkham border with Afghanistan.
“Our Embassy in Kabul is in contact with the Pakistani nationals stranded in Afghanistan due to suspension of flights to Saudi Arabia,” Chaudhri said in a statement. “Besides making adequate arrangements for the repatriation of these stranded Pakistanis through Torkham, the Embassy has also made effective arrangements in terms of transport, food and cash grant to facilitate return of these Pakistani nationals to their homes.”
Mansoor Ahmad Khan, ambassador of Pakistan to Afghanistan, said in a tweet:
Operation to send 4000 stranded Pakistanis from Kabul to Pakistan being undertaken by Pakistan Embassy in Kabul @ForeignOfficePk @PakistaninAfg pic.twitter.com/hffXRy4MP2
— Mansoor Ahmad Khan (@ambmansoorkhan) July 5, 2021
Thousands of Pakistanis have been unable to return home in recent weeks due to flight cancelations by Middle Eastern operators following recent travel bans in their countries.
