At the special request of the Afghan government, and based on "humanitarian" considerations, Pakistan has decided to allow Afghan nationals in Pakistan to return to Afghanistan for a limited time, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said in a statement.

The Torkham and Chaman land crossings will be opened from April 6 to April 9, 2020 to facilitate Afghan nationals, said the statement. 

“As a neighbor, and in view of fraternal bilateral relations, Pakistan remains in abiding solidarity with the people of Afghanistan, particularly at this time of global pandemic,” the statement added.

Numbers from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) show that 1,827 Afghans returned from Pakistan between March 8 to March 18 but this travel stopped after the de facto border area was closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

A recent figure by IOM shows that 1.3 million people in Pakistan registered as Afghan nationals, and more than 1 million Afghans who are unregistered, are living in Pakistan.