Afghans say last path to safety shuts

US halts visas after DC shooting

KABUL/ISLAMABAD:

Afghans who fled the Taliban and have waited years for a US resettlement decision say their last path to safety has shut since Washington froze all Afghan immigration cases following a shooting near the White House.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said late on Wednesday it had halted processing for Afghan nationals indefinitely, hours after an Afghan man shot and critically wounded two National Guard soldiers in Washington. President Donald Trump called the attack "an act of terror" and ordered a review of Afghans who entered the country during Joe Biden's presidency.

For Afghans sheltering in Pakistan, tens of thousands of whom are awaiting US resettlement decisions, the announcement felt like their last safe route had closed.

"I was deeply distressed when I heard this news. We have completed all the required review procedures," said Ahmad Samim Naimi, 34, from Afghanistan's Panjshir province, who had worked as a TV presenter and press adviser under the previous, US-backed government.

He fled to Pakistan after the Taliban began detaining journalists and former government workers, and had applied for resettlement in the United States. "If I go back, one day you will certainly hear news of either my arrest or my death," he said. Remaining in Pakistan has become increasingly difficult as the authorities have launched a crackdown on Afghans without formal refugee status. Pakistan has deported more than half a million Afghans in the past year and intensified detentions in major cities. Even Afghans with valid visas or UNHCR documents have been stopped at checkpoints, evicted or asked for bribes.