Imran Khan
PDF VETERAN
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2007
- Messages
- 68,815
- Reaction score
- 5
- Country
- Location
Demand for Pakistan Visas Fuels Deadly Stampede in Afghanistan
At least 12 people died as thousands crowded a soccer stadium. Many were seeking medical care in Pakistan, which recently eased its pandemic border restrictions.
Afghan men strained to get the tokens required to apply for Pakistani visas in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on Wednesday.Credit...Parwiz/Reuters
By Zabihullah Ghazi and Fahim Abed
Many people in Afghanistan, a war-ravaged country with minimal health care facilities, cross the border into Pakistan for treatment. But since the spring, Pakistan had drastically reduced the number of visas that it issued to Afghans, hoping to minimize the spread of the coronavirus.
Pakistan recently announced that it would resume issuing visas at a more normal rate. But there was so much pent-up demand that thousands of people gathered before dawn at the soccer stadium, in the city of Jalalabad, waiting for tokens to be given out that would enable them to apply for visas. Just 1,000 visas were to be processed that day.
About 10,000 people were in the stadium when the stampede occurred, said Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar Province, which includes Jalalabad. The stampede began as the tokens were being distributed to the crowd, Mr. Khogyani said.
“There were several thousand women,” he said. “All of those killed were ill women who were trying to get a visa and go for their treatment to Pakistan.”
Image
A man injured in the stampede arrived for treatment at a Jalalabad hospital. Credit...Parwiz/Reuters
Pakistan, despite its tense relations with the Afghan government over its tacit support for the Taliban, is a key destination for Afghans. About three million Afghan refugees live there, and until the pandemic struck, there was a constant flow of Afghans across the border, seeking work or medical care.
The Pakistani Consulate in Jalalabad, which distributes visas for residents of seven eastern and southeastern provinces, recently reopened after being closed for nearly eight months because of Pakistan’s coronavirus travel restrictions. Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan, had recently announced a new visa regime that would ease the process for issuing long-term, multiple-entry visas for Afghans.
“The charges of corruption and mishandling of applicants in recent years had tarnished the image of Pakistan and caused hardship to visa applicants,” Mr. Sadiq said in announcing the new visa policy.
The provincial authorities in Nangarhar announced the new procedure for distributing tokens to visa applicants, which was meant to discourage crowding in light of the heavy demand. Under the rules, the first 1,000 people would get tokens and the rest would have to try their luck the next day, Mr. Khogyani said.
“The stampede broke out in the women’s section,” said an eyewitness, Abdullah, who like many Afghans goes by one name. “Then police arrived and the situation got worse. I escaped from the stadium. When I came back, several women were lying on the ground and they were dead.”
Image
The coffin of a victim of the stampede, outside a Jalalabad mortuary.Credit...Noorullah Shirzada/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
In July, clashes along the Afghan-Pakistani border left 15 civilians dead in Kandahar Province, as the Pakistani Army fired heavy artillery into civilian areas. Protesters on both sides of the border had demanded the reopening of a border crossing that Pakistan had closed because of the pandemic.
The stampede came on another bloody day of violence across Afghanistan, as the Taliban waged attacks despite continuing peace talks in Qatar between the militants and government negotiators.
The bloodiest attack took place in the northern province of Takhar, where a police special forces unit was ambushed by the Taliban, officials said. More than 42 police officers were killed, according to Wafiullah Rahmani, head of the provincial council, who spoke from a hospital where bodies were arriving.
Mr. Rahmani said the head of the special forces unit, a provincial deputy police chief, was among the dead. “The hospital is so busy, and many people are looking for their loved ones,” he said. “The casualties may increase, as many police officers are still missing.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/16/...on=CompanionColumn&contentCollection=Trending
Other security officials put the toll even higher. “I have counted 50 dead bodies and I have got tired of counting,” said Karimullah Bek, a pro-government militia commander in the area.
Zabihullah Ghazi reported from Jalalabad, and Fahim Abed from Kabul, Afghanistan. Mujib Mashal and Najim Rahim contributed reporting from Kabul.
www.nytimes.com
حالات حاضرہ
پاکستانی قونصل خانے کے باہر بھگدڑ، 12 افراد ہلاک
افغانستان کے مشرقی شہر جلال آباد میں پاکستانی قونصل خانے کے باہر بھگدڑ کے نتیجے میں کم از کم ایک درجن افغان شہری مارے گئے ہیں۔ قونصل خانے کے باہر ہزاروں افراد پاکستانی ویزا حاصل کرنے کے لیے جمع تھے۔
بھگدڑ جیسی صورت حال مشرقی افغان شہر جلال آباد کے ایک میدان میں پیدا ہوئی۔ ہلاک ہونے والوں میں بیشتر خواتین شامل ہیں۔ یہ لوگ ویزے کی درخواست جمع کرانے کے لیے ٹوکن حاصل کرنے کی کوشش میں تھے۔ کئی دوسرے شہروں سے بھی افراد علی الصبح اس میدان میں جمع ہونا شروع ہو گئے تھے۔
اس بھگدڑ اور ہلاکتوں کی تصدیق ننگرہار صوبے کی صوبائی کونسل کے اراکین اجمل عمر اور سہراب قادری نے جرمن نیوز ایجنسی ڈی پی اے کے ساتھ بات کرتے ہوئے کی۔ ان اراکین نے بتایا کہ مقامی اسٹیڈیم میں پاکستانی ویزے کی درخواستیں جمع کرانے والے افراد کی تعداد تیس سے چالیس ہزار کے درمیان تھی۔
www.dw.com
At least 12 people died as thousands crowded a soccer stadium. Many were seeking medical care in Pakistan, which recently eased its pandemic border restrictions.
Afghan men strained to get the tokens required to apply for Pakistani visas in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on Wednesday.Credit...Parwiz/Reuters
By Zabihullah Ghazi and Fahim Abed
- Oct. 21, 2020Updated 5:48 a.m. ET
Many people in Afghanistan, a war-ravaged country with minimal health care facilities, cross the border into Pakistan for treatment. But since the spring, Pakistan had drastically reduced the number of visas that it issued to Afghans, hoping to minimize the spread of the coronavirus.
Pakistan recently announced that it would resume issuing visas at a more normal rate. But there was so much pent-up demand that thousands of people gathered before dawn at the soccer stadium, in the city of Jalalabad, waiting for tokens to be given out that would enable them to apply for visas. Just 1,000 visas were to be processed that day.
About 10,000 people were in the stadium when the stampede occurred, said Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar Province, which includes Jalalabad. The stampede began as the tokens were being distributed to the crowd, Mr. Khogyani said.
“There were several thousand women,” he said. “All of those killed were ill women who were trying to get a visa and go for their treatment to Pakistan.”
Image
A man injured in the stampede arrived for treatment at a Jalalabad hospital. Credit...Parwiz/Reuters
Pakistan, despite its tense relations with the Afghan government over its tacit support for the Taliban, is a key destination for Afghans. About three million Afghan refugees live there, and until the pandemic struck, there was a constant flow of Afghans across the border, seeking work or medical care.
The Pakistani Consulate in Jalalabad, which distributes visas for residents of seven eastern and southeastern provinces, recently reopened after being closed for nearly eight months because of Pakistan’s coronavirus travel restrictions. Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan, had recently announced a new visa regime that would ease the process for issuing long-term, multiple-entry visas for Afghans.
“The charges of corruption and mishandling of applicants in recent years had tarnished the image of Pakistan and caused hardship to visa applicants,” Mr. Sadiq said in announcing the new visa policy.
The provincial authorities in Nangarhar announced the new procedure for distributing tokens to visa applicants, which was meant to discourage crowding in light of the heavy demand. Under the rules, the first 1,000 people would get tokens and the rest would have to try their luck the next day, Mr. Khogyani said.
“The stampede broke out in the women’s section,” said an eyewitness, Abdullah, who like many Afghans goes by one name. “Then police arrived and the situation got worse. I escaped from the stadium. When I came back, several women were lying on the ground and they were dead.”
Image
The coffin of a victim of the stampede, outside a Jalalabad mortuary.Credit...Noorullah Shirzada/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
In July, clashes along the Afghan-Pakistani border left 15 civilians dead in Kandahar Province, as the Pakistani Army fired heavy artillery into civilian areas. Protesters on both sides of the border had demanded the reopening of a border crossing that Pakistan had closed because of the pandemic.
The stampede came on another bloody day of violence across Afghanistan, as the Taliban waged attacks despite continuing peace talks in Qatar between the militants and government negotiators.
The bloodiest attack took place in the northern province of Takhar, where a police special forces unit was ambushed by the Taliban, officials said. More than 42 police officers were killed, according to Wafiullah Rahmani, head of the provincial council, who spoke from a hospital where bodies were arriving.
Mr. Rahmani said the head of the special forces unit, a provincial deputy police chief, was among the dead. “The hospital is so busy, and many people are looking for their loved ones,” he said. “The casualties may increase, as many police officers are still missing.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/16/...on=CompanionColumn&contentCollection=Trending
Other security officials put the toll even higher. “I have counted 50 dead bodies and I have got tired of counting,” said Karimullah Bek, a pro-government militia commander in the area.
Zabihullah Ghazi reported from Jalalabad, and Fahim Abed from Kabul, Afghanistan. Mujib Mashal and Najim Rahim contributed reporting from Kabul.
Demand for Pakistan Visas Sets Off Deadly Stampede in Afghanistan (Published 2020)
At least 12 people died as thousands crowded a soccer stadium. Many were seeking medical care in Pakistan, which recently eased its pandemic border restrictions.
پاکستانی قونصل خانے کے باہر بھگدڑ، 12 افراد ہلاک
افغانستان کے مشرقی شہر جلال آباد میں پاکستانی قونصل خانے کے باہر بھگدڑ کے نتیجے میں کم از کم ایک درجن افغان شہری مارے گئے ہیں۔ قونصل خانے کے باہر ہزاروں افراد پاکستانی ویزا حاصل کرنے کے لیے جمع تھے۔
بھگدڑ جیسی صورت حال مشرقی افغان شہر جلال آباد کے ایک میدان میں پیدا ہوئی۔ ہلاک ہونے والوں میں بیشتر خواتین شامل ہیں۔ یہ لوگ ویزے کی درخواست جمع کرانے کے لیے ٹوکن حاصل کرنے کی کوشش میں تھے۔ کئی دوسرے شہروں سے بھی افراد علی الصبح اس میدان میں جمع ہونا شروع ہو گئے تھے۔
اس بھگدڑ اور ہلاکتوں کی تصدیق ننگرہار صوبے کی صوبائی کونسل کے اراکین اجمل عمر اور سہراب قادری نے جرمن نیوز ایجنسی ڈی پی اے کے ساتھ بات کرتے ہوئے کی۔ ان اراکین نے بتایا کہ مقامی اسٹیڈیم میں پاکستانی ویزے کی درخواستیں جمع کرانے والے افراد کی تعداد تیس سے چالیس ہزار کے درمیان تھی۔
پاکستانی قونصل خانے کے قریب بھگدڑ، 12 افراد ہلاک – DW – 21.10.2020
افغانستان کے مشرقی شہر جلال آباد میں پاکستانی قونصل خانے کے باہر بھگدڑ کے نتیجے میں کم از کم ایک درجن افغان شہری مارے گئے ہیں۔ قونصل خانے کے باہر ہزاروں افراد پاکستانی ویزا حاصل کرنے کے لیے جمع تھے۔
www.dw.com
