Authorities have stepped up arrests of Afghan citizens in Pakistan's capital and a nearby city in an effort that the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad described on Wednesday as a push to force the expulsion of all Afghan refugees from the country.

Besides hundreds of thousands of those living illegally in Pakistan, there are around 1.45 million Afghan nationals registered with UNHCR as refugees.

Diplomats from Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban reported Wednesday that neighboring Pakistan is implementing a plan for the “imminent” and swift mass deportation of nearly three million Afghan refugees from its territory.

Afghan refugees are facing arrests and harassment in Pakistan as part of a mass expulsion campaign, Kabul's embassy in Islamabad said on Wednesday, after the U.N.'s refugee agency said hundreds had been expelled from two cities.