QUETTA - Balochistan Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugt on Thursday announced the arrest of six Afghan spies from the province and asked Afghan refugees to leave Pakistan.

In a press briefing, he said the arrested agents belonged to two networks of Afghan intelligence agency NDS (National Directorate of Security) and were involved in bombing, target killings and other subversive activities.

Bugti said India’s spy agency RAW and Afghan NDS were working in collusion to destabilise Pakistan. “NDS is a satellite organisation of RAW, and a very close nexus exists between the two.”

The provincial minister lashed out at Afghan intelligence agency for deceiving Pakistan. “What is the Afghan intelligence doing with Pakistan?”

Bugti stated the spies were paid Rs80,000 per bombing, and received a much higher sum of Rs250,000 for carrying out a targeted attack on an individual.

Confessions

In a confessional video statement aired during the press conference, one of the arrested, Abdullah Shah, said he was a resident of Afghan province Helmand but had a Pakistani ID card.

Similarly, Asmatullah, another person held, said he had been living in Pishin district of Balochistan for the last 20 years, and was involved in killing 22 people after having his CNIC made for Rs40,000.

NDS personnel identified as Qazi Naik Muhammad Noorzai in his statement said the agency provided him Rs15 million for targeted killings.

Warning to Ghani 

The home minister also warned the Afghan president asking him to control NDS and stating that relations between the two countries can deteriorate if such activities continue.

Bugti stated that Pakistan wants to foster brotherly relations with Afghanistan, but if the NDS continues with its subversive activities, then it would be very hard to do so.

Replying to a question, the home minister stated that it is the responsibility of the Foreign Office now to raise the issue with Afghan government.

Afghan refugees should leave: Bugti said Afghan refugees should return to their country, and Pakistanis will now put their house in order.

“We can’t tolerate this hospitality as Afghan migrants are now involved in killing innocent Baloch people,” he said.

“We are asking a simple thing…we made them [Afghan migrants] our guests, we showered them with hospitality but since now they are killing us, they should leave the country right off.”

Bugti also blamed Nadra for its failure in failing to curb the issuance of fake identity cards to illegal Afghan aliens, lamenting that it would lead to an increase in terror activities.

COAS lauds soldiers:

Army chief General Raheel Sharif appreciated the efforts of law enforcement agencies, in unearthing foreign intelligence network in Quetta. He vowed Pakistan will defeat any nefarious designs of hurting the country and root out hostile elements.