- Islamabad (IANS) - Last week's
massacre of Taliban fighters, many of whom were Pakistanis, in a Mazar-i-Sharif
prison is likely to result in a bloody backlash from local tribesmen, a
U.N. official has said.
UNCHR (U.N. Commission on Human Rights) spokeswoman Maki Shinohara said
the body had information that some slain fighters belonged to tribal areas,
SADA reported. "There are rumours of a planned revenge," she
said.
Since Pakistan has allowed setting up of refugee camps in tribal areas,
UNCHR seems alarmed about the rising tension there.
The UNCHR official said recent developments in Afghanistan "seem to
be unsettling the population in the tribal areas." The agency has
put its field staff on high alert and is "closely monitoring the security
situation."
The UNCHR monitoring team in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province estimated
that over 70,000 people from Afghanistan entered Pakistan in November.
"About 55,000 may be seeking asylum," Shinohara said.
UNCHR is continuing to relocate non-Pushtun refugees from Jalozai to Kurram
Agency. "The provincial authorities feel confident the refugees will
not be at risk there," she said.
The agency urged parties in Pakistan and Afghanistan to respect the rights
and human dignity of all refugees.
UNCHR said an increasing number of Afghans had gathered at Pakistan's border
town of Chaman. "Over 6,000 people camped out Sunday in a no man's
land between Afghanistan and Pakistan." She said most of the refugees
belonged to Kandahar.
Copyright © 2001 IANS India Private Limited. All rights Reserved.
http://www.paknews.com/main.php?id=6&date1=2001-12-03
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