Islamabad, September 5, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
A passport scandal involving thousands of Afghan nationals has exposed deep-rooted weaknesses within Pakistan’s civilian institutions, while also highlighting deteriorating ties with Afghanistan and a recurring tendency to shift responsibility onto an external population, according to a report by Stringer Asia.
The report said the controversy centres on Afghan nationals travelling on Pakistani passports, with Islamabad portraying the episode as evidence that Afghans infiltrated Pakistan’s identity system, exploited the country’s hospitality, posed security risks and damaged its international reputation.
However, it argued that the documents could not have been issued without involvement from Pakistan’s own administrative system.
“This is not simply a case of Afghans obtaining false documents,” the report said, pointing instead to instances in which Pakistani officials allegedly provided genuine documents on false premises.
It noted that obtaining a Pakistani Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) by inserting a foreign national into a Pakistani family, followed by acquisition of a passport, would require access to administrative machinery, intermediaries and, in some cases, allegedly complicit officials.
The report said personnel of Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) accused of facilitating fraudulent documentation are facing criminal proceedings, with some dismissed from service. More than 100 agents were also reportedly arrested during raids last month.
In July, the Federal Investigation Agency detained NADRA officials suspected of facilitating Afghan nationals and launched an investigation into possible links between the network and militant groups, according to the report.
Despite these investigations, Stringer Asia said the political narrative continued to place Afghans at the centre of the scandal while giving comparatively less attention to failures within Pakistan’s own state machinery.
The report argued that the network’s scale raised questions about whether it served only Afghan nationals. It suggested that presenting the affair primarily as a terrorist pipeline could obscure the possibility that Pakistani identity documents had become commodities available through brokers.
“The surrendered passports are not evidence that Pakistan’s borders have been breached solely from outside. They are evidence that the border was being sold from within,” the report stated.
The allegations come against the backdrop of increasingly strained relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, with Islamabad facing continuing security and political concerns linked to developments across the border.
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