Around 600 Afghan refugees return home recently from Pakistan

KABUL: Nearly 600 Afghan refugees have returned from neighbouring Pakistan this week, Afghanistan's Ministry for Refugees and Repatriation Affairs said.

A total of 579 Afghan refugees have returned over the past two days after years of stay in Pakistan, the ministry said in a statement, reporting the arrival of a group of 343 people on Monday and another batch of 236 on Tuesday.

More than 2.5 million registered Afghan refugees reportedly have been living in Pakistan and about the same number in Iran.

The return of Afghan refugees to their homeland, according to the statement, has been continuing.

Last week, the state-run Bakhtar news agency reported the return of more than 54,000 Afghan refugees from Iran.

The Afghan caretaker government has been urging Afghan refugees living abroad to return home and contribute to reconstruction in the war-torn country.