Robbers attack returning Afghan refugees in the south

An international NGO has called for increased security on a main highway, following an incident in which a convoy carrying Afghan refugees was fired on and robbed. The convoy, comprising seven buses, was passing through the Shikarpur District in the north of the country's southern Sindh Province when robbers stopped the vehicles. "This route is notorious for robberies and we need to protect these poor refugees," the director of the Focus NGO, Rafiq Halani, told IRIN on Wednesday from the southern port city of Karachi.

Focus staff members were travelling with the convoy to oversee the repatriation of the refugees, and informed their managers soon after the incident, which took place at 03:00 local time (08:00 GMT) on Tuesday. "Our programme manager was at the scene by 8 a.m. and contacted the relevant people, including the police," he said.

The injured were taken to the nearest hospital in Lakhi Ghulam Shah for treatment and released soon after. The convoy of some 400 Afghans then continued its journey to the border in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. "They should be crossing into Afghanistan from the Torkham [Towr Kham] border today [Wednesday]," he added.

However, some of the vehicles were damaged in the attack and had to be repaired, delaying the journey by five hours. "One bullet hit the radiator of a truck and two tyres burst," Halani explained. Focus is assisting the refugees who are going home spontaneously, unassisted by the office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), under a planned programme of 10 buses leaving southern Pakistan every day.

Meanwhile, the refugee agency has taken up the incident with local and provincial police forces. "We are in contact with the police, who have given us assurances of increased security there to ensure that people can travel safely," Melita Sunjic, the UNHCR spokeswoman in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, told IRIN. The police were conducting an investigation into the incident. "It is a route prone to robberies and is known as a dangerous zone," she noted.

Sunjic, however, pointed out that because those travelling in the convoy were spontaneous returnees, UNHCR representatives were not accompanying them. "We have strongly advised them not to travel after dark on this road," she stressed. She added that the refugee agency was very grateful to Focus staff on the ground at the time and soon after the incident. "UNHCR is increasing its registration capacity in Karachi so that refugees can be on the road early to avoid travelling after dark," she said.