FIA arrests four Afghan nationals over fake Pakistani ID documents

The Federal Investigation Agency has arrested four Afghan nationals in Peshawar who allegedly obtained Pakistani computerised national identity cards by illegal means and were attempting to acquire Pakistani passports on the strength of them.

The FIA's Anti-Human Trafficking Circle in Peshawar carried out the raid at Spin Ghar Hostel in Shaheen Town, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported. The operation followed information that Afghan nationals were staying at the hostel and were using agents to obtain identity cards and passports unlawfully.

The four were identified as Siddiqullah, Rehmatullah, Abdullah and Nasir, all Afghan citizens, according to TechJuice, which reported the arrests and the case registered against them. APP did not publish the names.

Officials recovered photocopies of Pakistani CNICs bearing photographs during the raid, TechJuice reported. In initial questioning, the four told investigators they had obtained the cards with the help of an agent identified as Talat, also known as Peer, and none of them could produce a valid Pakistani visa.

The FIA registered Case No. 208/2026 at its AHTC office in Peshawar. According to TechJuice, the charges fall under Sections 419, 420, 468, 471 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code, along with Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946. The penal code sections cover cheating, cheating by personation, forgery and the use of a forged document as genuine; the Foreigners Act provision deals with offences by foreign nationals.

Both accounts describe the raid as following a tip-off to the FIA's Peshawar zone, and both say the arrests were made on Thursday.

It was not immediately clear whether the four had been produced before a court or placed on remand. FIA officials also did not say whether they were looking for the agent the suspects named during questioning, or whether any identity records already issued in their names were being traced.

Identity documents held by Afghan nationals have been a recurring focus of FIA operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the agency's anti-trafficking circles investigate both document fraud and the networks that arrange travel onward from Pakistan.