KABUL, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan expelled over 5,000 Afghan refugees on Thursday, the local media Tolonews reported Friday.

The refugees returned from Pakistan via Torkham and Spin Boldak crossing points to Afghanistan on Thursday, the report said, adding that the returnees have received necessary assistance.

Reportedly, nearly 600,000 Afghan refugees, most of whom are undocumented migrants, have been expelled from Pakistan over the past two weeks.

Meanwhile, Afghan authorities are building shelters at a cost of 800,000 U.S. dollars for recently returned refugees in east Afghanistan's Paktia province.

The Afghan interim government has been repeatedly calling upon Afghan refugees to end living abroad as refugees and return home to contribute to the rebuilding of their war-torn homeland. ■