Historical Footprint of England in Border Tensions Between Pakistan and Afghanistan

The current border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, known as the “Durand Line,” which was drawn in 1893 between “Abdul Rahman Khan,” the former king of Afghanistan, and “Sir Mortimer Durand,” the representative of British India, is considered a definite and determined border by Pakistan, but from Afghanistan’s point of view, it is only a hypothetical line. In the recent conflicts between the two neighboring countries, it has become a legal challenge to establishing a lasting ceasefire between the two countries.

The Washington Post wrote in a report about this: Pakistani and Afghan forces have been fighting along this border for weeks over what was drawn in the 19th century by Britain through the historical lands of the Pashtun people. Now, as they struggle to negotiate a lasting ceasefire, the Taliban in Afghanistan are increasingly challenging the legality of this border.

Dozens of soldiers and civilians have been killed in this month’s clashes along the border line. Two weeks ago, Pakistan carried out several airstrikes against various cities in Afghanistan with the aim of confronting the Pakistani Taliban, which Islamabad considers responsible for terrorist operations in Pakistan and supported by Afghanistan—an action that threatened to turn this border dispute into a wider war.

Since then, a temporary ceasefire has been implemented, which the parties have largely adhered to, but before the negotiations this weekend in Istanbul, little optimism was felt about Pakistan and Afghanistan reaching a common ground over the dividing border line.

Hypothetical Line or Legal Border?

The article continued: British officials in 1893, after the victory of the British Empire in the second war of the Anglo-Afghan Tripartite War, drew the 1,640-mile Durand Line to determine the border between Afghanistan and what was then called “British Raj.”

This happened in the days of the decline of the “Great Game”—the political and military rivalries of the two colonial empires of Britain and Tsarist Russia in Central Asia in the nineteenth century. London wanted Afghanistan to become a buffer zone between its sphere of influence and Moscow.

“Abdul Rahman Khan,” the King of Afghanistan, under British pressure, accepted the transfer of part of the Pashtun tribal lands—lands that were effectively annexed to British India.

The resulting border, which extends from China in the northeast to Iran in the southwest, was named after British diplomat “Mortimer Durand,” who was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of India at that time.

This border has remained for it since the formation of Pakistan in 1947 as a result of the partition of India. Islamabad has since considered this issue resolved and has asked the successive governments of Afghanistan and now the Taliban to accept it as it is. Pakistani officials emphasized before the peace talks that this border is not negotiable.

While Afghanistan has always questioned the legitimacy of this line. The Taliban call it a “hypothetical” or “imaginary” border.

Cause of Recent Tensions

The American media wrote: What is more disturbing for Pakistani officials is that the Afghan Taliban have shown little interest in securing this border against militants or smugglers. Militants in Pakistan are particularly worrying for Islamabad, who have sworn allegiance to the Afghan Taliban and are expanding insurgencies in territory that was effectively annexed by Britain more than 130 years ago.

Pakistani officials say the Afghan Taliban are actively supporting efforts by militants to establish Taliban rule in border areas that once belonged to Afghanistan.

Pakistani officials attribute most of the attacks to the Pakistani Taliban (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan): “Noor Wali Mehsud,” the leader of the group, was the target of one of Pakistan’s attacks in Kabul two weeks ago, which led to more than a week of border clashes. Mehsud survived the attack and has since appeared in front of cameras, although Pakistan has not claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Afghan Taliban deny any support for the Pakistani Taliban, and the Pakistani Taliban have denied support or protection from the Afghan Taliban. A senior member of the group (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan) said that the negotiations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have not affected its operations.

On the condition of anonymity, he said: “There is no pressure from the Islamic Emirate (Afghan Taliban) on our leadership not to fight in Pakistan.”

The Impact of the Durand Line on People’s Lives

The Washington Post continued: Support for Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan seems minor in this tribal border area, but these militants have been able to advance attacks recently by exploiting the perception of people on both sides of the border line that the Durand Line was not supposed to affect their daily lives.

Members of Pashtun communities and other tribes repeatedly crossed this line during the day without being stopped by border guards for much of the twentieth century. This situation was even welcomed by Pakistani officials in the 1980s because they sent weapons and fighters in support of the “Afghan Mujahideen”—Islamist militants of Afghanistan in their fight against the Soviet Union. The Afghan Mujahideen, who were the core of the formation of the Taliban, recruited forces from large ethnic Pashtun communities on both sides of the Durand Line.

“Nisar Ali Khan Dawar,” a 57-year-old tribal leader in Pakistan who freely crossed the border until he was 30 years old, said: “People did not think of it as a border—there were no passports or visas. We went to that side and this side of the border to attend weddings, funerals, or just to have dinner.”

Free movement ended after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The Taliban had sheltered al-Qaeda leader “Osama bin Laden”; In response to al-Qaeda’s terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001, the United States attacked Afghanistan.

Under pressure from the United States, Pakistan closed the border crossings and deployed forces to secure the border. Bin Laden fled to Pakistan anyway, but the impact on the border area was severe and lasting.

After the formation of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in 2007 and the start of its attacks in Pakistan, Islamabad began to build border fortifications on the Durand Line and eventually fenced it off, which now stretches along most of it.

However, there is practically no oversight on this border line. Pakistani Taliban fighters and smugglers have often crossed this fence, and some of the local people support the actions of the militants.

The Reason for the Taliban’s Insistence on the Legitimacy of the Durand Line

The American media continued: Analysts doubt that the Taliban government, which is only recognized internationally by Russia, can provide a legal argument to challenge the Durand Line.

“Ahmar Bilal Sufi,” the former Minister of Justice of Pakistan, said: “Both countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, have treated the Durand Line as a real international border for a long time.” He pointed out as an example that Afghan officials collect customs duties at the border checkpoints.

“Zahid Hussain,” a Pakistani political commentator, said that the Taliban may see the tensions on the border line as beneficial to them internally, saying: “By repeatedly raising this issue, they use Afghan nationalism to divert people’s attention.”

He stated: “This may bring them short-term support internally, but it will only lead to increased instability in both countries.”

This political commentator referred to the closure of the border crossings of Afghanistan and Pakistan in the past two weeks, which has caused traders to be stranded on both sides of the border, while millions of Afghans are facing severe hunger.

“Shaker Afridi,” a Pakistani trader in the border area, said that the financial losses have been very heavy. But even worse, the impact of this situation is on thousands of deported Afghan refugees who are stranded on the Pakistani side between a country that puts pressure on them to leave and another country to which they are forcibly returned.

More than one million Afghans have been returned from Pakistan since 2023 or have been under pressure to leave it—a move that appears to be an attempt to put pressure on the Afghan Taliban to control the Pakistani Taliban.