Pakistan has deported nearly 600 Afghans who had been jailed in the southern city of Karachi for up to six months on charges of illegal immigration

AP:

The release came ahead of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's arrival Wednesday in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad for a three-day visit.

Anwar Rizvi, an official at District Jail Malir where most of the Afghans were held, said the detainees were taken by 12 buses to the border where they were released. They were escorted by police and Afghan diplomats.

The Afghans had been arrested in and around Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city and commercial hub, as part of a crackdown on illegal workers.

Afghan diplomat Abdul Muqtadir Frozenfur said 17 Afghan children, aged 10-14, remained in custody in Karachi on visa offenses. They were being held in a detention facility separate from the adult prison.

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