Pakistan releases 524 Afghan migrants from Karachi prison in southern country

Hundreds of Afghan migrants, including women and children, have been released from a jail in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi, Afghan authorities said on Saturday.

Pakistani police in multiple raids last month detained at least 1,200 Afghan nationals who entered Karachi without valid travel documents.

The arrests brought criticism from around Afghanistan after images of locked up Afghan children circulated online. The detentions underscored the strained relations between the two South Asian neighbors.

Afghanistan’s embassy in Islamabad said 524 Afghans had been released, including 54 women and 97 children.

A video shared by the embassy on Twitter showed women and children behind the main gate of the prison, waiting to be released under supervision of Pakistani and Afghan authorities.

Another video showed men seated in a bus ready to depart for Afghanistan.

E.M