Three Taliban militiamen, armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers, yesterday strolled around outside the perimeter of a UN refugee camp just inside south-western Pakistan.
The casual daylight incursion into neighbouring Pakistan by Taliban members came as the militia's forces retreated rapidly from advancing Northern Alliance troops in Afghanistan.
However, UN officials say Taliban members have been nightly visiting the refugee processing camp at the border town of Chaman in Baluchistan province for the past week. "They threaten the refugee men and say they are bad Muslims if they don't fight with them," said Mr Peter Kessler, a UNHCR spokesman in Pakistan.
Mr Kessler said yesterday's military display by the Taliban only some 50 metres from the Killi Faizo staging site has been reported by the UN to the provincial authorities. It came amid concerns that Northern Alliance gains in Afghanistan could spark a fresh civil war and a renewed surge of refugees into Pakistan.
"We are very concerned about a breakdown in the security situation around Chaman which could put thousands of refugees at risk as well as dozens of aid workers," added Mr Kessler.
Chaman's refugees faced further frustrating delays yesterday. The UNHCR said the Pakistani authorities prevented them from registering some 500 people camped outside the Killi Faizo staging site yesterday. The refugee agency said it was also prevented from continuing the transfer of refugees from the site to Roghani camp some 18 km away, the first proper camp to be opened in Pakistan since the September 11th attacks on the US.
The Pakistani government just last week gave approval for the establishment of 11 camps in Baluchistan province and the North West Frontier province which could hold up to 150,000.
By yesterday, only some 600 of the 3,600 refugees due to be moved from Killi Faizo had been transferred to the Roghani camp. The UNHCR started the transfers on Sunday and had intended completing them by today, thereby freeing up the staging site for the processing of further newcomers who are arriving at a rate of about 500 per day.
Some 200 refugees at Killi Faizo packed their meagre belongings in anticipation of being moved to Roghani camp yesterday but ended up spending the day waiting in vain in the baking sun. Killi Faizo's UNHCR field officer, Ms Solveig Isbrand, said they had received confusing signals all day. "It's very frustrating but the refugees are very patient and they haven't said one bad word," she said.
Meanwhile, at Roghani camp, new arrivals were yesterday settling into the cream canvas tents pitched on stony, arid ground which will be their new homes for the foreseeable future.
Workers preparing for more arrivals mapped out the site for more tents yesterday and dug latrines. The refugees were registered in green marquees and then attended health screening for common complaints, including diarrhoea, colds and abdominal pains.
The Habibullah family of 10 children, aged from 17 years to nine months, were erecting one of the two tents allocated to them. Mr Hanifia Habibullah said his family had fled Kandahar in Afghanistan last month after their house was damaged. They spent 10 nights at Killi Faizo before moving to Roghani. The children's clothes were ragged, their hair matted with dust.
The baby, Ahmad, was crying while suckling at his mother's breast and two other children, aged four and five, had eye infections. "We are glad that all the children are secure here but we have no warm clothes or shoes," said Mrs Tamama Habibullah.
Ms Toireas N∅ Bhriain, the country director of Concern, which is responsible for planning the Roghani site, praised the Pakistani government for allowing more refugees enter the country and said she hoped it would be equally as caring for Afghans on the other side of the border.
Pakistan's borders with Afghanistan remain closed, with only those considered vulnerable, such as women, children, the elderly and sick people, allowed to enter through official crossings.
The UNHCR estimates that about 135,000 people have fled Afghanistan to date, with many entering Pakistan illegally through its highly porous 1,400 mile border.