Afghanistan stampede kills 12 women waiting for visas to enter Pakistan

A stampede in a jam-packed stadium in Afghanistan's Jalalabad on Wednesday left at least 12 women dead, officials said. The women were among thousands of people trying to get visas to enter neighbouring Pakistan for medical treatment.

Scores of people in Afghanistan, a war-stricken country with poor health care facilities, cross the border into Pakistan for treatment every year. But since March, Pakistan has drastically reduced the number of visas that it issues to Afghans, in order to minimise the spread of coronavirus.

Recently, Pakistan announced that it would resume issuing a regular number of visas to the countries. But, the demand was so high that thousands of people gathered before dawn at the soccer stadium, in Jalalabad, waiting for tokens to apply for visas. However, only 1,000 visas were to be processed that day.

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Consequently, a stampede occurred when the tokens were being distributed to the crowd of at least 10,000 people, said Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the Governor of Nangarhar Province, which includes Jalalabad. He said that there were several thousand women in the stadium and all of those killed were ill women, who were trying to get a visa for Pakistan.

Despite its tense relations with the Afghanistan government, Pakistan is a key destination for Afghans. About three million Afghan refugees live there, and until the COVID-19 outbreak, there was a constant flow of citizens across the border, seeking work or medical facilities.

The Pakistani Consulate in Jalalabad, which distributes visas to residents of provinces, had reopened after nearly eight months due to Pakistan’s coronavirus travel restrictions. Not long ago, Pakistani special envoy for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq, had announced a new visa policy for Afghans that would ease the process for issuing long-term, multiple-entry visas.

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The authorities in Nangarhar province announced a new procedure for issuing tokens to visa applicants, in order to discourage crowding at the stadium. As per the rules, the first 1,000 people would be given tokens and the rest would have to try again on the next day, Khogyani said.

One of the eyewitnesses said the stampede began in the women's section, which prompted the police to arrive. After a short while, there were dead bodies lying on the ground, most of whom were elderly women. A woman who survived the stampede recalled hearing screaming and seeing expectant mothers among those who were trampled. Pakistan's embassy in Kabul has expressed "deep grief and sadness" over the incident.

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The stampede came on another day of violence in Afghanistan, as the Taliban waged attacks on civilians despite ongoing peace talks in the country between the militants and government negotiators.

The bloodiest attack took place on Wednesday in the northern province of Takhar, where a special unit of police was entrapped by the Taliban. Over 42 police officers including the head and a provincial deputy police chief attained martyrdom, said Wafiullah Rahmani, head of the provincial council.

He said that the hospital was very busy and many people were looking for their loved ones. Several officers were missing. Other officials believe the death toll was at least above 50. 

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(Image credits: AP)