Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani diplomats and other embassy officials in Kabul have restricted their movement after the ‘detention’ of two diplomatic officials on May 17, sources told Daily Times on Sunday.

They had earlier stated that Hasan Khanzada, an assistant at the visa section, and Syed Munir Shah, driver, were whisked away by the Afghan intelligence agents when they were buying stationery at a busy marketplace.

Pakistan had formally lodged protest over the incident by summoning the Afghan Embassy deputy chief in Islamabad.

The alleged harassment has not affected the routine function of the embassy and other diplomatic missions; however, it has raised concerns about the security of the diplomats and other staff, sources said.

Afghan security agency, NDS, had initially refused to confirm they were holding Pakistanis; however, some witnesses who knew the Pakistanis had informed the embassy about the incident.

The employees were set free after nearly a three-hour detention. The Afghan officials have not yet explained the reason for their detention, sources said.

The embassy has advised all the staff to limit their movement to the diplomatic missions and their homes, a source privy to the situation said via phone.

On Sunday, the embassy was opened for normal work and the visa section received thousands of visa applicants; however, the staff had received instructions not to go out of the embassy compound. Being a conflict zone, Afghanistan is a “non-family station” for Pakistani diplomats.

“The embassy staff members have also been told that they should go out of the embassy in groups and if one person is detained, others could inform diplomats,” the sources said. The worsening Pakistan-Afghan ties could be blamed for the last week’s alleged harassment of the officials.

The Foreign Office had described the incident as a “clear violation of the Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations (1961) and against the spirit of the brotherly relations between the two countries”.

This is not the first time Pakistani officials have complained about harassment of its staffers in Kabul.

In August 2015, all diplomats in Pakistan’s mission in Kabul had abandoned their residences and shifted to the embassy compound in the wake of growing incidents of the alleged harassment when unidentified people in cars would chase the Embassy vehicles. The relations are tense following this month’s cross-border shelling at Chaman, which caused casualties on both sides. Pakistan has closed the border since May 5; however, patients are allowed on legal travel documents.

Security officials of the two countries have held a series of flag meetings, but they have not yet succeeded to resolve differences.