KOHAT, Oct 7: At least 8,000 Afghan families are waiting at the Durand line between Kurram Agency and the Paktia province of Afghanistan as preparations are underway to construct 25 refugee camps at Kha Dhand which is situated only one kilometre from the border near Sadda Tehsil, Dawn has learnt from official and independent sources.

The site has been selected by a team of UNHCR and representatives of Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees (CAR). Thousands of tents, quilts and other essential commodities for about 60,000 fresh refugees had already arrived at a godown in Peshawar and would be shifted to Kurram Agency within few days, officials added.

The requisite CAR staff had already been deputed in Lower Kurram Agency near Sadda Tehsil.

There are already 0.4 million refugees in the area for the last so many years whereas the local people had been asking the government to send them back at the earliest.

An official of the CAR said that they were waiting for a green signal from the ministry of SAFRON as to when to take in the refugees. The ministry was also reviewing the number of camps to be erected there. However logistics for 25 camps had already reached Peshawar.

The CAR task would be to issue refugee passes to the entrants and distribute tents and edibles among them and guide them to the selected site for camps.

He said that according to UNHCR standard each Afghan family comprised of at least seven to nine members.

Meanwhile a reporter of a local Pushto daily who returned from the border area on Friday said there were more than 12,000 families stranded across the border and waiting for permission to enter Pakistan.

BAR BODY POLLS: The lawyers community elected Malik Iqbal advocate and Malik Zaheeruddin advocate as president and secretary-general, respectively of the District Bar Association on Saturday.

In one-to-one contest for the slot of president, Malik Iqbal got 95 votes, whereas his rival Mohammad Riaz advocate polled 60 votes.

For the post of vice-president, four contestants were in the run in which Saleem Altaf (59 votes) defeated Javed advocate (45 votes), Mohammad Asif Khan Bangash (40 votes) and Riaz Hussain Qureshi advocate (11 votes).

The seat of secretary-general of the district bar was won by Malik Zaheeruddin Babar (71 votes), while his rivals Abdur Rauf got 57 votes and Ms Nusrat Fatima polled 25 votes. Syed Ghyasuddin Gilani advocate was elected as the joint secretary.