As the deadline approaches, the government has finalized formalities to deport Afghan citizens residing illegally in Pakistan.

This will be done under Section 3 of Foreign Act, 1946. The Prime Minister's House told the interior ministry to follow through on this decision.

Pakistan has set a November 1 deadline for all illegal immigrants, including hundreds of thousands of Afghans, to leave the country or face forcible expulsion.

Some 1.73 million Afghans in Pakistan have no legal documents.

Islamabad alleges that Afghan nationals carried out over a dozen suicide bombings this year.

Pakistan has hosted the largest number of Afghan refugees since the Soviet invasion of Kabul in 1979. Islamabad says the number of Afghan refugees in Pakistan totalled 4.4 million.

Some 20,000 or more Afghans who fled the 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan are in Pakistan awaiting the processing of their applications for US Special Immigration Visas (SIVs) or resettlement in the United States as refugees.

Sources said that Afghans who are under trial or have been convicted of serious crimes won't be sent back.

Meanwhile, district administration, police, prosecution, and jail administration will be given special authority. From November 1, they can arrest and deport illegal Afghan citizens.

Afghans who are detained in any of the four provinces will be kept in special centres during this process.

Recently, United States (US) also urged Pakistan to allow Afghans seeking protection to enter the country.

The US State Department said last Thursday that it strongly encourages Afghanistan's neighbours, including Pakistan, to allow entry for Afghans seeking international protection and to coordinate with international humanitarian organizations to provide humanitarian assistance.

"We strongly encourage Afghanistan's neighbours, including Pakistan, to allow entry for Afghans seeking international protection and to coordinate with international humanitarian organizations ... to provide humanitarian assistance," a US State Department spokesperson told reporters as reported by Reuters.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers have said Pakistan's move to evict illegal Afghan migrants was "unacceptable".

Relations have deteriorated between Pakistan and Afghanistan over the past couple of years, largely over accusations that militants fighting the Pakistani state operate from Afghan territory. The Taliban deny this claim.