Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar said on Wednesday that terror attacks in Pakistan have increased by 60% since the Taliban-led government took over Afghanistan two years ago.

Speaking to the media in Islamabad before departing for Tashkent on an official visit, Kakar said that Pakistan had deep ties with Afghanistan and has hosted millions of refugees for almost over four decades.

However, Kakar said, terror attacks have grown multifold in Pakistan in the last two years. He added that 15 Afghan citizens have been involved in terror attacks in Pakistan.

Kakar said that 252,000 Afghan refugees had returned to their home country over recent weeks but over two million immigrants who have valid documents will not be sent back.

He added that the refugees had been sent back with ‘respect’ and expressed hope that the Afghan government would make arrangements for them.

Kakar said that Pakistan had helped Afghanistan during its difficult time but had now decided to prioritise its internal security.

He said that over 2,000 Pakistanis have died in terror attacks in recent years and the Afghan government needs to take stock that Pakistan is a sovereign state.

Kakar said that a delegation including Pakistan’s defence minister and head of the Inter-Services Intelligence had gone to Afghanistan to discuss security matters and a number of other engagements had also taken place.

Despite this, Kakar said, positive signals had not been received from the Afghan side and adjustments had to be made by Pakistan.

In response to a question about mistreatment of Pashtuns under the garb of the operation against refugees, Kakar said he was a Pashtun himself and such acts would not be tolerated by any means.