KABUL – A senior Afghan local official has revealed that half of thepopulation of Paktika’s Barmal district, in the east of Afghanistan, havebeen issued Pakistani identity cards while the residents are “easily”allowed to travel to other side of the border.

Barmal District Governor Rahmatullah said that getting a Pakistani identitycard is an easy task for the residents.

With an estimated 88,000 population, Barmal lies along the Durand line,bordering with North Waziristan, one of Pakistan’s Federally AdministeredTribal Areas (FATA). The main town is Angur Ada.

The population of Barmal is Pashtun, predominantly from the Kharoti andWazir tribes. Barmal lies in an area of particularly rugged terrain.

According to the district governor, the identity cards mention Barmal asmain residence of the cards holders.

Rahmatullah said the issue is “concerning” and that it requires a “thoroughinvestigation”.

“It is almost 50 percent,” said the district governor as he pointed out tothe percentage of the population who hold Pakistani identity cards. “Sofar, we have not played a specific role to prevent this but everyone isaware about this matter,” he added.