10 madrassah students recovered in Lahore before being trafficked to Kabul

An Afghan citizen picked up the students from a Sunni-Madrassah, located around 2 kilometers from Punjab CM's office

ISLAMABAD: Law enforcement agencies on Thursday recovered 10 students of a Lahore-based madrassah who were to be trafficked to Kabul this week.

“An Afghan citizen picked up the students from a Sunni-Madrassah, located around two kilometers away from Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s office,” a senior official of home department said.

Read: Reforming madrassas: The revolution within

The official claimed, “It is believed that the purpose behind trafficking these students was to train them as jihadists in Afghanistan.”

Seconding the official’s claim, Home Minister Punjab Col (retd) Shuja Khanzada said, “Yes, we have arrested an Afghan who was smuggling 10 madrassah students to Afghanistan.” confirmed.

Khanzada further added the students are all male and and have been sent to Punjab Child Protection Bureau.

Read: Punjab police disclosure: 1,000 madrassas foreign-funded

“We've booked many Afghan refugees who were involved in such business,” he said.

Around 1, 600 clerics have been arrested since the implementation of the National Action Plan. The clerics were arrested for violation of loudspeakers, delivering hate speeches and distribution of hate materials.

Read: Over 2,000 clerics arrested for misusing loudspeakers

Further, as many as 13,802 madrassahs have been registered in the province.

“By the end of this month a newly modified syllabus will be distributed across the province,” the home minister upheld.