Authorities have uncovered more than 250,000 fake Pakistani national identity cards (NICs), most of them held by Afghan nationals, through a special verification software developed to detect fraudulent entries in family trees, sources said on Wednesday.

According to sources, the software identified suspicious CNICs by analysing family compositions and tracing inconsistencies.

The investigation revealed that a large number of Afghan nationals had been illegally added to the family trees of Pakistani citizens residing in Pishin, Chaman, and Quetta.

Officials said local agents allegedly facilitated the inclusion of these Afghan nationals in Pakistani family records in exchange for hefty payments. Many citizens were reportedly unaware that their family data had been misused.

Sources added that NADRA has now begun automatically blocking fake identity cards flagged by the system.

Holders of blocked CNICs have been instructed to visit NADRA offices for verification, and cards not verified within the given timeframe will be permanently cancelled.

69 illegal Afghans arrested

Meanwhile, Islamabad Police arrested 69 Afghan nationals illegally residing in the federal capital during a grand search and combing operation led by SSP Operations Muhammad Shoaib Khan.

According to Capital Police, the operation, conducted in the Sabzi Mandi area, involved checks on 221 individuals, 65 shops, 43 motorcycles, and 31 vehicles. The crackdown aims to curb crime and identify illegal residents in the city.

Inspector General of Police Islamabad has directed similar large-scale search operations across the district to eliminate criminal networks and undocumented foreign residents.