Night Raid: Pakistani Police Storm Afghan Migrants’ Homes in Rawalpindi

DID Press: Pakistan police carried out a nighttime raid on the homes of Afghan migrants in the Faisal Town neighbourhood — an operation that has sparked a fresh wave of fear and protest among the Afghan migrant community, According to reports from Rawalpindi.

In the early hours last night, law enforcement teams entered multiple houses where Afghan families reside. Neighbours reported that door-knocking turned into forced entry: officers and plainclothes men, without showing any legal warrant, reportedly broke down doors, sometimes even using physical force to gain entry. Residents say the operation began around 12:30 a.m. and continued for more than an hour.

During the raid, officers conducted aggressive searches of rooms, checked identity documents, and — in several cases — detained young men for questioning.

“No one understood why they were raiding — even when we said we would open the door from inside, they still kicked it down,” a resident described the incident.

This event has prompted widespread alarm among Afghan migrants in Rawalpindi, many of whom say that during recent weeks police treatment of them has grown noticeably harsher.

Human-rights activists warn that continuing operations of this kind are undermining the psychological and physical security of Afghan migrants.