A family of Afghan nationals sit on a vehicle in Jamrud area of Khyber district, some 30 Km west of Peshawar on October 6, 2023, as they return to Afghanistan. (PHOTO / AFP)

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan - More than 12,000 Afghan refugees have returned to south Afghanistan from Pakistan over the past months, deputy head of Refugees and Repatriation Directorate in south Afghanistan's Kandahar province Momin Agha said.

According to the official, on average 820 families, or more than 4,000 individuals, return home from Pakistan via the Spin Boldak border crossing that connects Kandahar to Baluchistan of Pakistan each week, and the number of returnees is on the rise.

More than 2.5 million Afghan refugees have been living in Pakistan, with the same number in Iran, who have escaped foreign invasions and conflicts in their homeland Afghanistan over the past four decades.

ALSO READ: Pakistani school helps Afghan women refugees build businesses

Reportedly, more than 200,000 Afghan refugees have returned to their homeland from neighboring Pakistan and Iran over the past year.