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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has directed private Hajj operators to complete booking of 20,000 pilgrims within next seven days, Pakistani state media reported.

Pakistan has been allocated a quota of 179,210 pilgrims for Hajj 2026. Of these, around 118,000 seats have been allocated to the government scheme and the rest to private tour operators.

Last year, around 63,000 Pakistani pilgrims were unable to perform Hajj under the private scheme due to delays in payments and mismanagement by private Hajj operators. As a result, Islamabad was forced to surrender these slots to ��������.

Officials at a review meeting on Friday noted that 40,000 Hajj pilgrims have so far been booked under the private scheme against a quota of 60,000 and the last date for booking is Oct. 17.

“Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Sardar Muhammad Yousaf has directed the Dependent Hajj Companies to complete the booking of 20,000 private Hajj pilgrims within next seven days,” the Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.

Pakistan’s religious affairs ministry announced last month that Hajj applicants can seek a refund or nominate a blood relative to perform the next year’s pilgrimage in their stead if they are unable to proceed further due to any emergencies, in major relief for intending pilgrims.

Under the government scheme, applicants deposited a first installment of Rs500,000 ($1,764) or Rs550,000 ($1,941) depending on the package in August while the remaining dues will be collected in November.

“The ministry has uploaded the forms on its website for refund or nominating a substitute for any of the 118,000 government scheme Hajj pilgrims who have already submitted their first installment but are unable to travel due to death or any other serious and valid reason,” Muhammad Umer Butt, a religious affairs ministry spokesperson, told Arab News.

Afghan Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi accused Pakistan on Friday (October 10) of carrying out airstrikes near its borders, calling it a “mistake,” as Islamabad said it was taking action against militants.

Eleven more Pakistani soldiers were killed on Friday in a clash with militants in the Tirah area close to the Afghan border, according to Pakistani security officials. Islamabad says militants of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan group operate from Afghanistan, a charge denied by Kabul.

“In the border areas, which are our remote areas, there have been some attacks. We condemn it. And we consider it a big mistake of the Pakistani government,” Muttaqi told a news conference in New Delhi on Friday.

Muttaqi is on a six-day visit to the Indian capital after getting a temporary exemption on his travel ban. He held talks with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar earlier in the day.

India on Friday upgraded ties with Afghanistan’s Taliban administration, giving a boost to the diplomatically isolated group, by announcing it would reopen its embassy in Kabul that was shut after the Taliban seized power in 2021.

Muttaqi also told reporters that, “Afghanistan will not allow military interventions or military presence of anyone,” in response to US President Donald Trump’s stated aim of taking over the Bagram military base near Kabul, the capital.

“If countries want to have relations with us, then they can come to the diplomatic mission. But we don’t accept them in the military uniform,” he said.