The interior ministry has notified a five-member high-level committee to probe into fake passports issued for Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi government had handed over 12,996 alleged fake Pakistani passports to the Pakistani embassy in Riyadh.

According to reports, these fraudulent passports were acquired by Afghan citizens through various passport centres operating within Pakistan.

The ministry of interior has constituted a 5-member high-level committee to investigate the matter, as per a notification.

The committee will be headed by the Director General of Passport and Immigration, and will include representatives from Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), interior ministry and National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).

Assistant director admin will be secretary of the committee, the notification said.

The panel will investigate the lapses in the issuance of passports and determine the responsibility of the FIA and other institutions involved.

It will also make suggestions to prevent such incidents from happening in the future.

The committee has been given 15 days to submit its report to the ministry.