Pakistan has ordered around 60,000 Afghan refugees to leave a troubled border tribal area where security forces are battling Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, officials said Tuesday. The deportation order for the displaced Afghans in the lawless northwestern region of Bajaur came after a deadline set for them to go back to their homeland expired on Sunday, security officials said. Pakistan launched an offensive in Bajaur in August and officials allege that many of the refugees, who fled Afghanistan during the years of conflict following the 1979 Soviet invasion, have links to the militants. "On the orders of the interior ministry we have launched a crackdown against Afghan refugees who did not leave the area," senior government official Abdul Haseeb told Agencies.