Pakistan Claims 23 Killed in Afghanistan Chaman Border Strikes

December 8, 2025
Khaama Press

Geo News reported on Sunday, December 7, that Pakistani forces targeted three Taliban bases along the Chaman border on Friday and Saturday, killing at least 23 fighters.

Pakistani forces launched strikes on three Taliban bases near the Chaman border over Friday and Saturday, killing at least 23 fighters. Media reports said the operation followed Taliban firing across the border, which was described as an “unprovoked” ceasefire violation.

So far, officials in Kabul have not commented on the Pakistani media claim, and there has been no independent confirmation of the reported casualties.

Officials in Kabul, however, have reported that five people, including women and children, were killed in the cross-border clashes, and have not confirmed the higher casualty figures claimed by Pakistani media.

Earlier, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the attacks in Spin Boldak district, Kandahar province, stating that Taliban fighters were “forced to respond” after Pakistani forces struck their positions.

Tensions along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border have risen sharply in recent weeks, resulting in multiple casualties on both sides. The clashes underscore the continuing volatility and security challenges in the border regions.

Separately, the Pakistani military reported operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, which killed 14 militants, including nine from Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and five from the Baloch Liberation Army. Security forces said they also seized weapons and ammunition during the operations.

Pakistan Claims 23 Killed in Afghanistan Chaman Border Strikes
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Afghanistan says 5 killed in heavy fire exchanges with Pakistani forces

December 8, 2025

Al Jazeera

Published On 6 Dec 2025

Afghanistan authorities say five people have been killed after an exchange of heavy fire with Pakistan’s forces along their shared border, as tensions between the South Asian neighbours escalate after peace talks in Saudi Arabia failed to produce a breakthrough.

The governor of Afghanistan’s Spin Boldak district in the Kandahar province confirmed four civilian deaths on Saturday. Deputy Taliban spokesman Hamdullah Fitra later told Reuters news agency that shelling by Pakistan killed five people, including a Taliban member.

Officials from both sides said the clashes broke out late on Friday night, with the two countries accusing one another of opening fire first.

In a post on X, the spokesman for Afghanistan’s Taliban government, Zabihullah Mujahid, said Pakistani forces had “launched attacks towards” the Spin Boldak district, prompting Afghan forces to respond.

A spokesman for Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said it was the Afghan forces who carried out “unprovoked firing” along the Chaman border.

“Pakistan remains fully alert and committed to ensuring its territorial integrity and the safety of our citizens,” spokesman Mosharraf Zaidi said in a statement.

Residents on the Afghan side of the border told the AFP news agency that the exchange of fire broke out around 10:30pm local time (18:00 GMT) and lasted about two hours.

Ali Mohammad Haqmal, head of Kandahar’s information department, told AFP that Pakistan forces attacked with “light and heavy artillery” and that mortar fire had struck civilian homes.

“The clashes have ended, both sides agreed to stop,” he added.

Strained ties

Relations have soured between Afghanistan and Pakistan since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, largely due to Islamabad’s accusations that Kabul is providing sanctuary to several armed groups, including the Pakistan Taliban (TTP).

The TTP has waged a sustained campaign against the Pakistani state since 2007 and is often described as the ideological twin of the Afghan Taliban. Most recently, on Wednesday, a roadside bombing in Pakistan near the Afghan border claimed by the TTP killed three Pakistani police officers.

Pakistan also accuses Afghanistan of sheltering the Balochistan Liberation Army and a local ISIL/ISIS affiliate known as the ISKP – even though the ISKP is a sworn enemy of the Afghan Taliban.

The Afghan Taliban denies the charges, saying it cannot be held responsible for security inside Pakistan, and has accused Islamabad of intentionally spreading misinformation and provoking border tensions.

A week of deadly fighting on their shared border erupted in October, triggered after Islamabad demanded that Kabul rein in the fighters stepping up attacks in Pakistan.

About 70 people were killed on both sides of the border and hundreds more wounded before Afghan and Pakistani officials signed a ceasefire agreement in Qatar’s capital Doha on October 19.

That agreement, however, has been followed by a series of unsuccessful talks hosted by Qatar, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia aimed at cementing a longer-term truce.

The latest round of talks, held in Saudi Arabia last weekend, failed to produce a breakthrough, although both sides agreed to continue their fragile ceasefire.

Despite the truce, Kabul has accused its neighbour of carrying out repeated air strikes in Afghanistan’s eastern provinces over recent weeks.

One attack reportedly carried out by the Pakistani military on a house in Afghanistan’s southeastern Khost province in late November reportedly killed nine children and a woman. Pakistan denied that it carried out any such attack.

Afghanistan says 5 killed in heavy fire exchanges with Pakistani forces
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Afghan, Pakistani forces exchange heavy fire as tensions flare

December 6, 2025

Al Jazeera

6 Dec 2025

Relations have soured between former allies Afghanistan and Pakistan since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

Afghanistan and Pakistan’s forces have exchanged heavy fire along their border as tensions between the South Asian neighbours escalate after peace talks in Saudi Arabia failed to produce a breakthrough.

Officials from both sides said the skirmishes broke out late on Friday night, with the two countries accusing one another of opening fire first.

In a post on X, the spokesman for Afghanistan’s Taliban government, Zabihullah Mujahid, said Pakistani forces had “launched attacks towards” the Spin Boldak district in the Kandahar province, prompting Afghan forces to respond.

A spokesman for Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said it was the Afghan forces who carried out “unprovoked firing” along the Chaman border.

“Pakistan remains fully alert and committed to ensuring its territorial integrity and the safety of our citizens,” spokesman Mosharraf Zaidi said in a statement.

Residents on the Afghan side of the border told the AFP news agency that the exchange of fire broke out around 10:30pm local time (18:00 GMT) and lasted about two hours.

Ali Mohammad Haqmal, head of Kandahar’s information department, told AFP that Pakistan forces attacked with “light and heavy artillery” and that mortar fire had struck civilian homes.

“The clashes have ended, both sides agreed to stop,” he added.

There were no immediate reports of casualties from either side.

Strained ties

Relations have soured between Afghanistan and Pakistan since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, largely due to Islamabad’s accusations that Kabul is providing sanctuary to several armed groups, including the Pakistan Taliban (TTP).

The TTP has waged a sustained campaign against the Pakistani state since 2007 and is often described as the ideological twin of the Afghan Taliban. Most recently, on Wednesday, a roadside bombing in Pakistan near the Afghan border claimed by the TTP killed three Pakistani police officers.

Pakistan also accuses Afghanistan of sheltering the Balochistan Liberation Army and a local ISIL/ISIS affiliate known as the ISKP – even though the ISKP is a sworn enemy of the Afghan Taliban.

The Afghan Taliban denies the charges, saying it cannot be held responsible for security inside Pakistan, and has accused Islamabad of intentionally spreading misinformation and provoking border tensions.

A week of deadly fighting on their shared border erupted in October, triggered after Islamabad demanded that Kabul rein in the fighters stepping up attacks in Pakistan.

About 70 people were killed on both sides of the border and hundreds more wounded before Afghan and Pakistani officials signed a ceasefire agreement in Qatar’s capital Doha on October 19.

That agreement, however, has been followed by a series of unsuccessful talks hosted by Qatar, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia aimed at cementing a longer-term truce.

The latest round of talks, held in Saudi Arabia last weekend, failed to produce a breakthrough, although both sides agreed to continue their fragile ceasefire.

Despite the truce, Kabul has accused its neighbour of carrying out repeated air strikes in Afghanistan’s eastern provinces over recent weeks.

One attack reportedly carried out by the Pakistani military on a house in Afghanistan’s southeastern Khost province in late November reportedly killed nine children and a woman. Pakistan denied that it carried out any such attack.

Afghan, Pakistani forces exchange heavy fire as tensions flare
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I’m an Immigration Lawyer. Trump Is Shattering My Clients’ Lives.

December 5, 2025
 By Elora Mukherjee

The New York Times

December 4, 2025

I have spent the last week telling clients that their asylum cases are indefinitely on hold.

All of them have suffered persecution or fear persecution in their home countries. None has a criminal record, here or elsewhere. I have seen the photos of their torture scars, their burns. I have witnessed the impact on their mental health from what they endured in their home countries. My calls and emails went out to clients who are political dissidents from Russia and Egypt, survivors of the genocide in Darfur, labor organizers from China, L.G.B.T. people from Pakistan and Tunisia, peaceful protesters from Venezuela, families with children who survived brutal violence in Honduras.

And Afghans. Since the Taliban retook Afghanistan in 2021, I have represented dozens of Afghan asylum seekers: women’s rights activists, journalists, doctors, former United Nations workers, members of persecuted religious and ethnic minorities and those who worked alongside U.S. troops and U.S.-based nongovernmental organizations. All of these people risk their lives being shattered — again.

These clients face the prospect of not having their asylum cases heard, not being granted asylum, not having their green card applications approved or having their green cards rescinded. This is all happening because of the Trump administration’s reaction to the shooting last week of two National Guard members, one of whom has died. An Afghan asylum recipient has been charged with the crime.

This tragedy has produced another: a Trump administration effort to further reshape America’s immigration system, demonize Afghan and other immigrants and at least temporarily block deserving asylum seekers from receiving the protections they need. Inflicting collective punishment based on the heinous and isolated crimes of one person is not a rational, appropriate or moral policy response.

Afghan asylum seekers I work with, many of whom have been waiting for years for their applications to be processed, are gripped with terror. They express to me their deep uncertainty of what the future will hold for their asylum applications, for their lives, and for their ability to stay in this country going forward. Many Afghans with green cards and those awaiting naturalization are likewise deeply unsettled and fearful.

This week, one of my Afghan asylum-seeking clients was required to report to the federal immigration court building in Manhattan for a routine meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He complied, wanting to do everything right, despite knowing his nationality put him at risk for arrest. At the immigration building, I tried to stay by my client’s side, but officers insisted on separating us. He was detained, and at first, his family and I did not know where he had been taken. A day later, he called me from a detention center in New Jersey.

The administration’s collective punishment is not limited to Afghan nationals — thus the fear I heard from clients of many nationalities. On Thanksgiving Day, Citizenship and Immigration Services declared that people from Burundi, Chad, Republic of Congo, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela and Yemen as well as Afghanistan would face even bigger hurdles in having their cases processed; the government had already aggressively limited or restricted entry of otherwise qualified applicants from these countries. The White House and Citizenship and Immigration Services have likewise announced that all green cards granted to people from these 19 countries will be re-examined. On Tuesday, the administration halted the processing of green cards and naturalization applications from these countries’ citizens.

People from these countries who have lawful status are anxious. Will they lose their work permits and their jobs? Will they lose their status and face arrest, detention or deportation? Will they need to leave their U.S. citizen children behind?

Over the long weekend, President Trump vowed to “permanently pause” migration from “all Third World Countries,” an outdated term that may include most of Africa, Asia and Latin America. The same day, Citizenship and Immigration Services announced an indefinite halt on all asylum applications; should this halt last, it would constitute a violation of U.S. obligations under the U.N. Refugee Convention and the Refugee Act of 1980. Western nations developed the Refugee Convention in the wake of the horrors of the Holocaust, promising to protect those who faced persecution on account of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in certain groups. The United States enacted the Refugee Act in 1980 to incorporate these protections into domestic law and establish a legal framework for protecting refugees and asylum seekers.

The shooting of the two West Virginia National Guard members last week was heartbreaking. Sarah Beckstrom was only 20 years old when she died on Thanksgiving Day. Andrew Wolfe, only 24 years old, is struggling for his life. In a just world, they would have been home celebrating the holiday with their loved ones.

The man charged in the shootings is Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old from Afghanistan who was granted asylum this April. According to NPR, Mr. Lakanwal had been cited for mental health concerns by a resettlement agency volunteer. He was apparently suffering from trauma related to his work for a paramilitary force that worked with the C.I.A. in Afghanistan. Now his criminal case will make its way through the American legal system.

Seeking accountability against the perpetrator of a crime is how the legal system is supposed to work. Vetting asylum seekers and other immigrants is necessary for the safety of us all. But punishing law-abiding immigrants, children and adults alike, for the violent acts of one man is anathema to our justice system and betrays our nation’s highest ideals.

Elora Mukherjee is a clinical professor of law at Columbia and the director of the immigrants’ rights clinic there.

I’m an Immigration Lawyer. Trump Is Shattering My Clients’ Lives.
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Putin: ‘Taliban’ Has Control Over Situation in Afghanistan

December 5, 2025
TOLOnews
TV Network
5 Dec 2025

Russia is the first country to have recognized the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and has maintained its relations with Kabul.

Vladimir Putin made an official visit to India, during which he stated that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan “clearly” has control over the situation and is actively working in the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking.

In an interview with India Today, Vladimir Putin emphasized that in order to influence developments in Afghanistan, one must engage with the current leadership of the country. He said, “It is better to have contact than none at all.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated: “The Taliban clearly controls the situation in Afghanistan, and this is evident. Here’s what needs to be said first. And you have to accept it because it’s reality. Secondly, what’s important to note is that the Afghan government takes many actions to combat terrorism and various terrorist organizations, including ISIL and others like them.”

Meanwhile, the Russian ambassador to Pakistan met with the Islamic Emirate’s ambassador to discuss current and future Kabul–Moscow relations and regional developments.

According to the statement from the Islamic Emirate’s embassy, Albert Khorev, the Russian ambassador, emphasized that his country seeks to play a “responsible and positive” role in strengthening regional stability and cooperation.

Zuhoruddin Zahir, a political analyst, said: “There have been political, economic, and diplomatic exchanges, and Russia has even taken steps toward recognition. President Putin has come to realize that Afghanistan has experienced over four years of security.”

Idris Mohammadi Zazai, another political analyst, stated: “This is something the international community must also accept. The world should understand that it needs to engage with the Islamic Emirate in this form.”

Russia is the first country to have recognized the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and has maintained its relations with Kabul.

The Islamic Emirate also views the expansion of economic and political relations with Russia as beneficial for both countries.

Putin: ‘Taliban’ Has Control Over Situation in Afghanistan
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Pakistan Intensifies Arrests of Afghan Refugees in Islamabad

December 5, 2025
Khaama Press

Pakistani authorities have intensified arrests of Afghan refugees in Islamabad, detaining women activists and vulnerable groups amid growing fears of forced deportation and rights violations.

Pakistani police have intensified a sweeping crackdown on Afghan refugees in Islamabad, arresting dozens of individuals, including women’s rights activists, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.

The arrests took place across several districts of the capital on Friday, Dec. 5, as security forces expanded operations targeting undocumented Afghan nationals. Refugees report that many detainees were taken without prior notice and transported directly to detention facilities.

Sources warn that without rapid legal and humanitarian support, those detained could face forced deportation to Afghanistan. Many reportedly lack access to lawyers, international agencies, or asylum case documentation.

Human rights advocates say the situation is especially alarming because many of the detainees include women protesters, journalists, civil society members, and former security personnel who fled Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover. They fear persecution, imprisonment, or torture if returned.

Over recent days, police have intensified arrests and transfers to the temporary holding facility known as Haji Camp, where detainees are processed before removal. Refugees report increasing fear, harassment, and extortion during police raids.

The escalation in deportations has triggered criticism from humanitarian organizations, who argue that Pakistan is failing to meet international protection obligations amid a worsening winter season and deepening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

Rights groups are urging Pakistan to halt forced returns.

Pakistan Intensifies Arrests of Afghan Refugees in Islamabad
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Pakistan Keeps Borders with Afghanistan Closed Until Security Guarantees Provided

December 5, 2025
Khaama Press

Pakistan has kept its borders with Afghanistan closed for trade and transit, allowing only humanitarian aid until firm security guarantees are provided.

Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andarabi has announced that the border crossings with Afghanistan will remain closed for trade and transit until Kabul provides clear assurances that no militants will infiltrate its territory. Andarabi emphasized that the decision is based solely on security concerns and is not directed against the Afghanistan people.

Humanitarian aid is being allowed to pass through, reflecting Pakistan’s willingness to support the peopel of Afghanistan, but commercial trade remains suspended until firm security guarantees are received.

Islamabad has accused militants operating from Afghanistan soil of carrying out attacks inside Pakistan. Despite ongoing talks, including meetings in Saudi Arabia, the Taliban side has not yet provided the assurances sought by Pakistan.

The border closures have caused significant disruption to regional trade. Thousands of trucks remain stranded, and many commercial contracts have been delayed or canceled, affecting businesses on both sides.

While limited crossings for refugees and aid continue, commercial transit remains halted, with authorities stressing that reopening depends entirely on Afghanistan preventing the use of its territory for militant activity.

Pakistan has made clear that national security takes precedence over economic concerns. Until credible guarantees are provided, the trade freeze will remain in effect, underscoring Islamabad’s priority of preventing further cross-border terrorism.

Pakistan Keeps Borders with Afghanistan Closed Until Security Guarantees Provided
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U.S. Veterans Urge Fair Treatment of Afghan Allies After Deadly Washington Shooting

December 5, 2025
Khaama Press

A deadly shooting near the White House involving an Afghan evacuee has intensified political scrutiny as U.S. veterans urge fair treatment of former allies.

Former intelligence and defense officials interviewed by NBC News stressed that Afghan partners played a critical role in counterterrorism operations over the past two decades. They warned that portraying the community as a security risk could harm future U.S. missions reliant on local support.

The fatal shooting of a U.S. National Guard member in Washington last week has triggered fresh debate over Afghan refugee resettlement, with former U.S. Special Forces urging Americans not to generalize or blame evacuees as a whole. The veterans say many Afghans who came to the United States after the Taliban takeover risked their lives assisting U.S. forces and should not be treated as suspects.

The suspect, Rahmanullah Lakhanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national evacuated in 2021, was arrested shortly after the November 25 shooting near the White House. He appeared by video from a hospital bed and now faces murder and attempted-murder charges.

The case has already fueled political reaction. The U.S. President Donald Trump called for a review of the records of all Afghans evacuated after the Taliban’s return to power, heightening anxiety among thousands still waiting for permanent legal status.

Many Afghan evacuees include former soldiers, interpreters, activists and journalists who fled Taliban reprisals after the fall of Kabul. Veterans and advocacy groups say they are facing severe challenges, including legal uncertainty, unemployment, untreated trauma and limited access to healthcare.

Advocates say the shooting, while tragic, is an isolated criminal case and should not be used to justify broad suspicion or policy rollbacks affecting thousands of Afghan allies still struggling to rebuild their lives in the United States.

U.S. Veterans Urge Fair Treatment of Afghan Allies After Deadly Washington Shooting
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Pakistan, Afghanistan exchange heavy fire along border, officials say

December 5, 2025

By Reuters

Dec 5 (Reuters) – Pakistan and Afghanistan exchanged heavy fire along their border late on Friday, officials from both countries said, amid heightened tensions following failed peace talks earlier this week.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistani forces launched attacks in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province. A spokesman for Pakistan’s Prime Minister accused Afghan forces of “unprovoked firing” along the Chaman border.
“Pakistan remains fully alert and committed to ensuring its territorial integrity and the safety of our citizens,” spokesman Mosharraf Zaidi said in a statement.
The exchange came two days after a new round of peace talks between the South Asian neighbours ended without a breakthrough, though both sides agreed to continue their fragile ceasefire.
The talks in Saudi Arabia last weekend were the latest in a series of meetings hosted by Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia aimed at cooling tensions following deadly border clashes in October.
At the heart of the dispute, Islamabad says Afghan-based militants have carried out recent attacks in Pakistan, including suicide bombings involving Afghan nationals. Kabul denies the charge, saying it cannot be held responsible for security inside Pakistan.
Pakistan, Afghanistan exchange heavy fire along border, officials say
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From Welcome to Worry: Afghans in the U.S. Face Uncertainty, Backlash

December 3, 2025
By Miriam Jordan

In the frenzied American exit from Afghanistan, Obaidullah Durani, a fighter pilot who had been trained by U.S. forces, was scrambling to get his family out, too. His daughter, Hela, was hoisted over the fence by a Marine at the Kabul airport as the family rushed to make a departing plane. But Mr. Durani’s wife, Shafaro, was separated from him and their two children and never made it onto an evacuation flight.

Allowed to enter the United States through a special program for people who worked with American forces, Mr. Durani settled in Arizona, with his infant daughter and toddler son. He had never changed a diaper in his life, he said, but he was now a single father juggling parenting with delivery jobs. Yet he felt safe in the United States and hopeful that the family would eventually be reunited.

That all changed with the deadly attack on National Guard members last week in Washington, D.C., which authorities say was carried out by a 29-year-old Afghan man.

Following the attack, President Trump directed his administration to suspend all Afghan immigration cases and immigration agents have been ordered to track down nearly 2,000 Afghans who have what are known as final deportation orders but are not in detention.

That threatens the lives built by the Duranis and thousands of other Afghan families in the United States.

Mr. Trump has seized on the shooting to intensify his broader anti-immigration campaign, and he has sought to depict the attack and the man charged, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, as evidence of a dangerously broken system he inherited from President Biden.

“We must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden, and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country,” the president said on Truth Social. “If they can’t love our country, we don’t want them.”

All told, about 200,000 Afghans who were considered wartime allies of the United States have been admitted to the United States since the chaotic pullout that concluded the 20-year occupation. Many had worked alongside U.S. troops in combat or on bases; others were employed by organizations — including The Times and other media outlets — as well as institutions that supported U.S. operations or interests.

The rhetoric and the threats from President Trump have stirred panic in communities that are home to many Afghan arrivals, including the Phoenix area where about 4,000 have settled since 2021.

He and his children have a green card interview scheduled for Dec. 17. He had many questions: Would the interview still take place. And, if it did, could his family end up being detained? Deported? What about his wife, whose process to enter the United States was now at a standstill?

“Every Afghan is worried,” said Mr. Durani, who delivers Amazon packages. “They shouldn’t punish all of us because of one person.”

“I’m here contributing, working, paying my taxes,” he said. “This is a country of laws and democracy; the man has been arrested.”

“Right now, if you leave the country, you might not be allowed back,” Ms. Peterson told one caller, who had plans to visit family members in Pakistan. “It’s too risky, even if you have a green card.”

Mirwais Daudzai, who also visited the center, works at the Phoenix airport assisting passengers who require wheelchairs. He greets them with a smile, asks about their journeys and eases them into the chairs. When travelers learn that he fled to the United States from his native Afghanistan, he said many tell him they are glad he is safe in America. Some slip him a generous tip.

That kindness seemed to vanish last week, Mr. Daudzai said, after the deadly attack in Washington D.C. and the anti-immigrant measures announced by the government.

On Thanksgiving, the day after the shooting, a traveler was about to hand Mr. Daudzai a $20 bill, but shoved it into her pocket instead after hearing he was from Afghanistan.

“Before this problem, I’m so happy and relaxed in this country,” said Mr. Daoudzai, 31, . “I have a job, I’m safe, I have no enemies.”

Now, “people are looking at all Afghans as terrorists,” said Mr. Daudzai, who was a police officer in his homeland and is in the United States with his wife. Both have active green card applications.

In the days since the shooting, U.S. officials have disclosed that Mr. Lakanwal was part of a paramilitary force that worked with the C.I.A. and was admitted to the United States as part of the effort to protect Afghan allies after the Taliban returned to power. Earlier this year, Mr. Lakanwal was granted asylum, which allowed him to remain in the United States and to seek a green card and citizenship.

For years, the admission into the United States of Afghans who supported the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan has enjoyed bipartisan support.

After the fall of Kabul in 2021, Americans across the political spectrum mobilized to welcome Afghans in one of the largest volunteer efforts since the end of the Vietnam War. Churches and synagogues in communities from Arizona to Virginia collected donations, furnished homes and taught newcomers how to navigate bus lines.

Before being allowed into the United States, the evacuees underwent extensive vetting. Many spent weeks or months in overseas way stations, such as Qatar, where they had to complete security checks, medical screenings and immigration paperwork. Once in the United States, they typically spent weeks on military bases before being resettled in communities across the country.

Most of them entered the United States with a special status called humanitarian parole under a program called Operation Allies Welcome. They then applied for asylum, which put them on the path to permanent residency in the country that gave them safe haven.

“They have worked for the last four years to achieve stability and integrate into American life,’’ said Ms. Larsen, co-founder of the refugee center in Mesa.

Thousands of Afghans awaiting approval have been stranded in third countries, including Pakistan, which has stepped up its own expulsion of Afghans who have settled there.

The Trump administration had already sharply restricted Afghan immigration as part of a travel ban announced in June, dashing hopes of many separated families that they would be reunited any time soon.

But the future of many Afghans, both those already in the United States and those hoping to immigrate, has been clouded by the Nov. 26 shooting, which killed one Guard member, Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and wounded another, Andrew Wolfe, 24.

President Trump has announced additional measures that could jeopardize the ability of Afghans in the United States to remain permanently. Among them is a plan to conduct new security checks of people already granted green cards, or lawful permanent residency.

As of Tuesday, the Trump administration has suspended the processing of all immigration applications filed by nationals of 19 countries, including Afghanistan, who had been barred from entering the United States under an executive order Mr. Trump issued in June. It is unclear when, or if, the suspension might be lifted.

Hekmatullah, 38, who said he was a former spokesman for the Ministry of Transport in Afghanistan, visited the center to seek camaraderie with fellow Afghans. His immigration status is especially precarious.

He, his wife and their three young daughters fled first to Iran, then to South America, where they joined the wave of humanity trudging through the perilous Darien Gap to make their way to North America.

They crossed the U.S. border with Mexicoearly last year and headed to Phoenix, where a brother-in-law, a former cargo plane pilot, had been resettled in 2021.

Hekmatullah, who spoke on condition that he be identified only by his first name to protect relatives in Afghanistan, applied for asylum, got a work permit and found a job at the airport.

His daughters, 11, 9, and 7 are thriving in school and already speak flawless English. In Afghanistan, they would be deprived of educational opportunities because they are girls.

“My kids are the most precious thing I have,” he said, as his daughters played on computers.

“If there was no Taliban and the country had stability,” he said, “I would not have left my country.”

Now Hekmatullah fears their asylum case, and their future in the United States, could be in jeopardy.

“We left because of fear,” he said. “Now fear is following us.”

On Tuesday, rumors that federal agents were spotted near an Amazon warehouse prompted many Afghans to skip work delivering packages.

Several men gathered at the Arizona Refugee Center to compare notes. Whether they had asylum or permanent residency, they were unwilling to risk an encounter with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, they said.

“I have a green card in my pocket,” said Khalil Sarwari, 48 producing it as proof. “But this crazy person caused big problems for everyone.”

Before starting his afternoon shift pushing wheelchairs, Mr. Daudzai stopped by the center, where he has been taking English classes. He also had a previously scheduled appointment there with a real estate agent.

His eyes were bloodshot from a sleepless night. Out of the blue, it seemed, the subcontractor that employs him at the airport had asked him to bring in his documents for review for the first time in more than two years.

“I’m so confused,” he said. “Do I buy a home? Or am I going to be deported?”

Miriam Jordan reports from a grass roots perspective on immigrants and their impact on the demographics, society and economy of the United States.

From Welcome to Worry: Afghans in the U.S. Face Uncertainty, Backlash
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