The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that more than 18,000 Afghan nationals returned to Afghanistan from the cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi between the beginning and end of January this year.

More than 18,000 Afghan nationals have travelled back to Afghanistan from Pakistan’s Rawalpindi and Islamabad in January this year, with repatriations witnessing a rise in repatriations in the second fortnight of the month slightly higher than the first fortnight,

The Afghanistan embassy in Pakistan warned that the government wants to remove all Afghan refugees from the capital, Islamabad, and the adjoining city of Rawalpindi, Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday.

Diplomats from Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban reported Wednesday that neighboring Pakistan is implementing a plan for the “imminent” and swift mass deportation of nearly three million Afghan refugees from its territory.

The Afghan embassy in Islamabad has warned that Pakistan is preparing to expel all Afghan refugees, with arrests and forced relocations already underway in the capital and Rawalpindi, according to a report in Associate Press.