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{{Short description|International border between Afghanistan and Pakistan}}
]
{{Use British English|date=February 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox border
| name = Durand Line
| image = File:Afghanistan-Pakistan border.png
| caption = Map marking the Durand Line border in red
| territory1 = {{AFG}}<br />
| territory2 = {{PAK}}
| length = {{cvt|2640|km}}
| enclaves =
| established = 12 November 1893
| establishedreason = Signing of the Durand Line Agreement at the end of the first phase of the ]
| current = 8 August 1919
| currentreason = ] ratified at the end of the ]
| disestablished =
| treaties = ], Durand Line Agreement, ]
| notes =
}}
The '''Durand Line''' ({{langx|ps|د ډیورنډ کرښه}}; {{langx|ur|{{nq|ڈیورنڈ لائن}}}}; {{langx|prs|خط دیورند}}), also known as the '''Afghanistan–Pakistan border''', is a {{convert|2640|km|adj=on}} ] between ] and ] in ].<ref>{{cite web|title=Pakistan|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/pakistan/|publisher=CIA World Factbook|access-date=30 September 2020|archive-date=10 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110014011/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/pakistan/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Efn|India also claims to have a border with Afghanistan on the eastern part of the Durand Line due to its claim on ]. (See ].)}} The western end runs to the border with ] and the eastern end to the border with ].


The '''Durand Line''' ({{lang-ps|<big>د ډیورنډ کرښه</big>}}) is the {{convert|2,250|km|mi|adj=on}} long line between ] and ]. It was established in 1893 between Sir ], a British diplomat and civil servant of ], and ], the ], to fix the limit of their respective ] and improve ]. Afghanistan ceded various frontier areas to British India to prevent invasion of further areas of the country. The Durand Line was established in 1893 as the international border between the ] and the ] by ], a British diplomat of the ], and ], the ], to fix the limit of their respective ] and improve diplomatic relations and trade. Britain considered Afghanistan to be an independent state at the time, although they controlled its ] and ].
Afghanistan was considered by the British as an independent ] at the time, although the British controlled its ] and ].


The single-page agreement contains seven short ], including a commitment not to exercise ] beyond the Durand Line.<ref name="LoC-Smith">{{cite web |url=http://www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/pub/afghanistan.html |title=A Selection of Historical Maps of Afghanistan – The Durand Line|publisher=] |location=United States |first=Cynthia |last=Smith |date=August 2004|accessdate=2011-02-11}}</ref> A joint British-Afghan ] survey took place starting from 1894, covering some 800 miles of the border.<ref>"The total length of the boundary which had been delimitated and demarcated between March 1894 and May 1896, amounted to 800 miles." The long stretch from the ] to China, including the ], was declared demarcated by virtue of its continuous, distinct watershed ridgeline, leaving only the section near the ], which was finally demarcated in 1921: {{cite web The single-page Agreement, dated 12 November 1893, contains seven short articles, including a commitment not to exercise ] beyond the Durand Line.<ref name="LoC-Smith">{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/pub/afghanistan.html|title=A Selection of Historical Maps of Afghanistan – The Durand Line|publisher=Library of Congress|location=United States|first=Cynthia|last=Smith|date=August 2004|access-date=11 February 2011|archive-date=9 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190109025224/http://www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/pub/afghanistan.html|url-status=live}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> A joint British-Afghan ] survey took place starting from 1894, covering some {{Convert|800|mi|}} of the border.<ref>"The total length of the boundary which had been delimited and demarcated between March 1894 and May 1896, amounted to 800 miles". The long stretch from the ] to China, including the ], was declared demarcated by virtue of its continuous, distinct watershed ridgeline, leaving only the section near the ], which was finally demarcated in 1921: {{cite web
|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofafghani031122mbp/historyofafghani031122mbp_djvu.txt|title=A History of Afghanistan Vol. II|author=Brig.-Gen. Sir ], K.C.I.E., C.B., C.M.G., Gold Medalist of the Royal Geographical Society|publisher=MacMillan & Co.|year=1940|location=London|pages=182–188, 200–208|access-date=5 December 2009}}</ref><ref name=Hay>An adjustment to the demarcation was made at ] in the early 1930s: {{cite journal|last=Hay|first=Maj. W. R.|title=Demarcation of the Indo-Afghan Boundary in the Vicinity of Arandu|journal=Geographical Journal|volume=LXXXII|issue=4|date=October 1933|pages=351–354 |doi=10.2307/1785903 |jstor=1785903 |bibcode=1933GeogJ..82..351H }}</ref> Established towards the end of the British–Russian "]" rivalry, the resulting line established Afghanistan as a ] between British and Russian interests in the region.<ref>{{cite book|title=Battleground: Government and Politics, Volume 1|first=Kathleen|last=Uradnik|page=18|publisher=ABC-CLIO|date=2011|isbn=978-0313343131|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uarFTBpg11wC&pg=PA18|access-date=31 August 2020|archive-date=16 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816131806/https://books.google.com/books?id=uarFTBpg11wC&pg=PA18|url-status=live}}</ref> The line, as slightly modified by the ], was inherited by Pakistan in 1947, following its independence.
|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofafghani031122mbp/historyofafghani031122mbp_djvu.txt

|title=A History of Afghanistan Vol. II
The Durand line cuts through to demarcate ], ], and the contested region of ] of northern and western Pakistan from the northeastern and southern ]. From a ] and ] perspective, it has been described as one of the most dangerous borders in the world.<ref name="Newsweek">{{cite web |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/73137/page/1 |title=No Man's Land |quote=Where the imperialists' Great Game once unfolded, tribal allegiances have made for a "soft border" between Afghanistan and Pakistan—and a safe haven for smugglers, militants and terrorists |work=]|location=United States |date=1 February 2004|accessdate=11 February 2011|archive-date=8 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408113251/http://www.newsweek.com/id/73137/page/1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cfr.org/publication/14905/ |title=The Troubled Afghan-Pakistani Border |publisher=] |first=Jayshree |last=Bajoria |date=20 March 2009 |accessdate=11 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525182142/http://www.cfr.org/publication/14905/ |archive-date=25 May 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="DN">{{cite web |url=http://archives.dawn.com/2005/09/07/top16.htm |title=Japanese nationals not killed in Pakistan: FO |work=] |location=Pakistan |date=7 September 2005 |accessdate=11 February 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/06/24/the_worlds_most_dangerous_borders?page=0,3|title=The World's Most Dangerous Borders: Afghanistan and Pakistan|work=]|date=24 June 2011|accessdate=12 September 2012|first=Philip|last=Walker|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111231073015/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/06/24/the_worlds_most_dangerous_borders?page=0,3|archive-date=31 December 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|author=Brig.-Gen. Sir ], K.C.I.E., C.B., C.M.G., Gold Medalist of the Royal Geographical Society
|publisher=MacMillan & Co.
|year=1940
|location=London
|pages=182–188; 200–208
|accessdate=2009-12-05}}</ref><ref name=Hay>An adjustment to the demarcation was made at ] in the early 1930s: {{cite journal
|last=Hay
|first=Maj. W. R.
|title=Demarcation of the Indo-Afghan Boundary in the Vicinity of Arandu
|journal=Geographic Journal
|volume=LXXXII |issue=4
|date=October 1933}}</ref> The resulting line later established the "]" ] between British and Russian interests in the region.<ref name="DTP">{{cite web |url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_1-2-2004_pg7_23 |title='Durand Line Treaty has not lapsed' |work=] |location=Pakistan |first=Khalid |last=Hasan |date=February 1, 2004|accessdate=2011-02-11}}</ref> The line, as slightly modified by the ], was inherited by Pakistan.


Although the Durand Line is internationally recognized as the western border of Pakistan, it remains largely unrecognized in Afghanistan.<ref name="No change in stance on Durand Line">{{cite news|title=No change in stance on Durand Line: Faizi|url=http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2012/10/24/no-change-stance-durand-line-faizi|date=24 October 2012|access-date=11 April 2013|publisher=Pajhwok Afghan News|quote=But Afghanistan has never accepted the legitimacy of this border, arguing that it was intended to demarcate spheres of influence rather than international frontiers.|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510142126/http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2012/10/24/no-change-stance-durand-line-faizi |archive-date=10 May 2013}}</ref><ref name="FG">{{cite web|url=http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/cp72_grare_final.pdf|title=Carnegie Papers – Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations in the Post-9/11 Era|first=Frédéric|last=Grare|date=October 2006|access-date=11 February 2011|archive-date=8 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808152815/http://carnegieendowment.org/files/cp72_grare_final.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://thediplomat.com/2014/02/why-the-durand-line-matters/|title=Why the Durand Line Matters|last=Rahi|first=Arwin|publisher=The Diplomat|access-date=9 September 2017|archive-date=29 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729145657/https://thediplomat.com/2014/02/why-the-durand-line-matters/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-v-micallef/afghanistan-and-pakistan_b_8590918.html|title=Afghanistan and Pakistan: The Poisoned Legacy of the Durand Line|last=Micallef|first=Joseph V.|date=21 November 2015|newspaper=Huffington Post|access-date=9 September 2017|archive-date=24 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024102621/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-v-micallef/afghanistan-and-pakistan_b_8590918.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7tDes7XwARMC&q=duran+line+international+recognition&pg=PT358|title=Afghanistan from the Cold War through the War on Terror |last=Rubin|first=Barnett R.|date= 2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199970414|access-date=24 October 2020|archive-date=16 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816131806/https://books.google.com/books?id=7tDes7XwARMC&q=duran+line+international+recognition&pg=PT358|url-status=live}}</ref> ], former prime minister and president of Afghanistan, vigorously opposed the border and launched a propaganda war – however during his visit to Pakistan in August 1976 he softened his tone by recognising the Durand line as the border.<ref name="Rasanayagam 2005 64">{{cite book |last=Rasanayagam |first=Angelo |title=Afghanistan: A Modern History|page=|year=2005|publisher=I.B. Tauris |url=https://archive.org/details/afghanistan00ange|url-access=registration|isbn=978-1850438571}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Dorronsoro |first=Gilles |title=Revolution Unending: Afghanistan, 1979 to present|page=84|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FApipiENsgwC|publisher=Hurst & Co. Publisher|year=2005|isbn=978-1850656838|access-date=7 July 2019|archive-date=16 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816131805/https://books.google.com/books?id=FApipiENsgwC|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Nunan 2016 125">{{cite book|last=Nunan|first=Timothy|title=Humanitarian Invasion: Global Development in Cold War Afghanistan|page=125|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IL8wCwAAQBAJ|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2016|isbn=978-1107112070|access-date=7 July 2019|archive-date=16 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816131923/https://books.google.com/books?id=IL8wCwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=ur Rahman|first=Hanif|date=December 2012|title=Pak-Afghan relations during Z.A. Bhutto Era: The dynamics of Cold War|url=http://www.nihcr.edu.pk/Latest_English_Journal/Jrnl%2033-2%20(2012)%20PDF/2.%20Pak-Afghan%20Relations,%20hanif%20khan.pdf|journal=Pakistan Journal of History and Culture|volume=XXXIII|pages=34–35|access-date=7 July 2019|archive-date=10 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200110135620/http://www.nihcr.edu.pk/Latest_English_Journal/Jrnl%2033-2%20(2012)%20PDF/2.%20Pak-Afghan%20Relations,%20hanif%20khan.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Durani|first1=Mohib ullah|last2=Khan|first2=Ashraf|date=2009|title=Pakistan-Afghanistan relation: Historic Mirror|url=http://www.qurtuba.edu.pk/thedialogue/The%20Dialogue/4_1/02_ashraf.pdf|journal=The Dialogue|volume=4|number=1|page=38|access-date=7 July 2019|archive-date=26 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826225437/http://www.qurtuba.edu.pk/thedialogue/The%20Dialogue/4_1/02_ashraf.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2017, amid cross-border tensions, former Afghan President ] said that Afghanistan will "never recognise" the Durand Line as the border between the two countries.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Siddiqui|first1=Naveed|title=Afghanistan will never recognise the Durand Line: Hamid Karzai|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1318594|access-date=9 September 2017|newspaper=Dawn|date=5 March 2017|archive-date=4 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190804152337/https://www.dawn.com/news/1318594|url-status=live}}</ref>
The Durand Line cuts through the ] and further south through the ] region, politically dividing ethnic ], as well as the ] and other ethnic groups, who live on both sides of the border. It demarcates ], the ], ] and ] of northern and western Pakistan from the northeastern and southern ]. From a ] and ] perspective, it has been described as one of the most dangerous borders in the world.<ref name="Newsweek">{{cite web |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/73137/page/1 |title=No Man's Land |quote=Where the imperialists' Great Game once unfolded, tribal allegiances have made for a "soft border" between Afghanistan and Pakistan—and a safe haven for smugglers, militants and terrorists |work=]|location=United States |date=February 1, 2004|accessdate=2011-02-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cfr.org/publication/14905/ |title=The Troubled Afghan-Pakistani Border |publisher=] |first=Jayshree |last=Bajoria |date=March 20, 2009 |accessdate=2011-02-11}}</ref><ref name="DN">{{cite web |url=http://archives.dawn.com/2005/09/07/top16.htm |title=Japanese nationals not killed in Pakistan: FO |work=] |location=Pakistan |date=September 7, 2005 |accessdate=2011-02-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/06/24/the_worlds_most_dangerous_borders?page=0,3|title=The World's Most Dangerous Borders: Afghanistan and Pakistan|work=]|date=24 June 2011|accessdate=12 September 2012|first=Philip|last=Walker}}</ref> Although it is recognised internationally as the western border of Pakistan, it remains largely unrecognized in Afghanistan.<ref name="No change in stance on Durand Line">{{cite news |title=No change in stance on Durand Line: Faizi |url=http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2012/10/24/no-change-stance-durand-line-faizi |date=October 24, 2012 |accessdate=2013-04-11 |work=] |quote=But Afghanistan has never accepted the legitimacy of this border, arguing that it was intended to demarcate spheres of influence rather than international frontiers.}}</ref><ref name="FG">{{cite web |url=http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/cp72_grare_final.pdf |title=Carnegie Papers – Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations in the Post-9/11 Era |publisher= |first=Frédéric |last=Grare |date = October 2006|accessdate=2011-02-11}}</ref><ref name="WM"/><ref name="AO"/><ref name="A"/> According to Aimal Faizi, spokesman for the ], the Durand Line is "an issue of historical importance for Afghanistan. The Afghan people, not the government, can take a final decision on it."<ref name="No change in stance on Durand Line"/>


== Historical background == == Historical background ==
{{more citations needed|section|date=November 2017}}<!--no citations in 4 paragraphs in intro portion and entire "Cultural impact" section-->
{{See also|European influence in Afghanistan|Military history of the North-West Frontier}} {{See also|European influence in Afghanistan|Military history of the North-West Frontier}}
] and the ] during the 1st millennium BC]] ] and the ] during the 1st millennium BC]]
The area in which the Durand Line runs has been inhabited by the ] Pashtuns<ref name="LoC">{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Afghanistan.pdf |title=Country Profile: Afghanistan |publisher=] |date=August 2008|accessdate=2011-02-11}}</ref> since ], at least since 500 B.C. The ] historian ] mentioned a people called '']'' living in and around ] as early as the 1st millennium BC.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.piney.com/Heredotus7.html |title=The History of Herodotus, Chapter 7 |publisher=piney.com |work=George Rawlinson |date=440 BC |accessdate=2011-02-11}}</ref> The ] inhabit the southern end of the line, which runs in the ] that separates the ethnic ].


The area through which the Durand Line runs has been inhabited by the ] Pashtuns<ref name="LoC">{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Afghanistan.pdf |title=Country Profile: Afghanistan |publisher=] |date=August 2008 |access-date=11 February 2011 |archive-date=8 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408085103/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Afghanistan.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> since ], at least since 500 BC. The ] historian ] mentioned a people called '']'' living in and around ] as early as the 1st millennium BC.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.piney.com/Heredotus7.html |title=The History of Herodotus, Chapter 7 |publisher=piney.com |translator-first=George |translator-last=Rawlinson |access-date=11 February 2011 |archive-date=5 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205055843/http://www.piney.com/Heredotus7.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The ] inhabit the southern end of the line, which runs in the ] that separates the ethnic ].
] ]s conquered the area in the 7th century and introduced ] to the Pashtuns. It is believed that some of the early Arabs also settled among the Pashtuns in the ].<ref name="Ferishta">{{cite web|url=http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=06901021&ct=10|title=''History of the Mohamedan Power in India''|author=] (Firishta)|publisher=]|work=Persian Literature in Translation|accessdate=2007-01-10}}</ref> It is important to note that these Pashtuns were historically known as ''"]"'' and are believed to be mentioned by that name in ] ]s as early as the 10th century.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9012039/Balochi |title=Baloch |publisher=] Online Version |accessdate=2011-02-11}}</ref> The Pashtun area (known today as the "]" region) fell within the ] in the 10th century followed by the ], ], ], ], and finally by the ].<ref name="HF">{{cite web |url=http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsMiddEast/EasternAfghans.htm |title=Kingdoms of South Asia – Afghanistan (Southern Khorasan / Arachosia) |accessdate=2010-08-16 |work=The History Files |publisher= |date=}}</ref>
], British diplomat and civil servant of colonial ]. The Durand Line is named in his honour.]]


] ] conquered the area in the 7th century and introduced ] to the Pashtuns. It is believed that some of the early Arabs also settled among the Pashtuns in the ].<ref name="Ferishta">{{cite web|url=http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=06901021&ct=10|title=History of the Mohamedan Power in India|author=] (Firishta)|publisher=]|work=Persian Literature in Translation|access-date=10 January 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211200506/http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=06901021&ct=10|archive-date=11 February 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> These Pashtuns were historically known as "Afghans" and are believed to be mentioned by that name in ] ]s as early as the 10th century.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9012039/Balochi |title=Baloch |publisher=] Online Version |access-date=11 February 2011 |archive-date=8 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080108175929/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9012039/Balochi |url-status=live }}</ref> The Pashtun area (known today as the "]" region) fell within the ] in the 10th century followed by the ], ], ], ], by the ], and thereafter the ].<ref name="HF">{{cite web |url=http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsMiddEast/EasternAfghans.htm |title=Kingdoms of South Asia – Afghanistan (Southern Khorasan / Arachosia) |access-date=16 August 2010 |work=The History Files |archive-date=27 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327233450/https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsMiddEast/EasternAfghans.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 1839, during the ], ]-led ] forces invaded Afghanistan and initiated a war with the Afghan rulers. Two years later, in 1842, the ] and the war ended. The British again invaded Afghanistan in 1878, during the ], withdrawing a couple of years later after attaining some geopolitical objectives. During this war, the ] was signed, ceding control of various frontier areas to the ].


], British diplomat and civil servant in ]. The Durand Line is named in his honour.]]
In 1893, Mortimer Durand was dispatched to ] by the government of British India to sign an agreement with Amir ] for fixing the limits of their respective ] as well as improving diplomatic relations and trade. On November 12, 1893, the Durand Line Agreement was reached.<ref name="LoC-Smith"/> The two parties later camped at ], a small town near ] in Afghanistan, which is now part of the ] (FATA) of Pakistan, to delineate the frontier.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}


In 1839, during the ], ]-led Indian forces invaded Afghanistan and initiated a war with the Afghan rulers. Two years later, in 1842, the ] and the war ended. The British again invaded Afghanistan in 1878, during the ]. The British decided to accept a new Amir who was a British opponent – ] and the ] was signed in 1880. Afghanistan ceded control of various frontier areas to India. The British failed in their objective to maintain a British resident in Kabul but having attained their other geopolitical objectives, the British withdrew.
From the British side, the camp was attended by Mortimer Durand and ], ] ] representing the British ] and ].{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} The Afghan side was represented by ] and a former governor of ] in Afghanistan, ], representing Amir Abdur Rahman Khan.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} The original 1893 Durand Line Agreement was written in ], with translated copies in ]. It is believed however that only the English version was actually signed by Amir Abdur Rahman Khan, a language he could not read or understand.<ref name="WM"/>


In 1893, Mortimer Durand was dispatched to ] by the Government of India to sign an agreement with Amir ] for fixing the limits of their respective ] as well as improving diplomatic relations and trade. On 12 November 1893, the Durand Line Agreement was reached.<ref name="LoC-Smith"/> The two parties later camped at ], a small town near ] in Afghanistan, which is now part of the ] (FATA) of Pakistan, to delineate the frontier.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}
The resulting agreement or treaty led to the creation of a new province called at the time ] now known as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province of Pakistan which includes FATA and ].


From the British-Indian side, the camp was attended by Mortimer Durand and ], ] ] representing the ] and ].{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} The Afghan side was represented by ] and a former governor of ] in Afghanistan, ], representing Amir Abdur Rahman Khan.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} The original 1893 Durand Line Agreement was written in ], with translated copies in ].
It also included the areas of ], ], the ], and ]. These areas were part of the ] from 1709 until the 1820s when the ] followed by British invaded and took possession.<ref></ref>

The resulting agreement or treaty led to the creation of a new province called the ], now known as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province of Pakistan which includes FATA and the ]. It also led to Afghanistan receiving Nuristan and Wakhan.


=== Demarcation surveys on the Durand Line === === Demarcation surveys on the Durand Line ===
The initial and primary demarcation, a joint Indo-Afghan survey and mapping effort, covered {{convert|800|mi|km|order=flip}} and took place from 1894 to 1896. Detailed ] maps locating hundreds of boundary demarcation pillars were soon published and are available in the ] collection at the ].<ref name="Sykes">{{cite web
]
The initial and primary demarcation, a joint Afghan-British survey and mapping effort, covered 800 miles and took place from 1894 to 1896. "The total length of the boundary which had been delimitated and demarcated between March 1894 and May 1896, amounted to 800 miles." Detailed ] maps locating hundreds of boundary demarcation pillars were soon published and are available in the ] collection at the ].<ref name="Sykes">{{cite web
|url=https://archive.org/search.php?query=184%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts |url=https://archive.org/search.php?query=184%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts
|title=A HISTORY OF AFGHANISTAN VOL. II |title=A History of Afghanistan, Vol. II
|author=BRIG.-GEN. SIR ], K.C.I.E., C.B., C.M.G., GOLD MEDALIST OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY |author=Brig.-Gen. Sir ], K.C.I.E., C.B., C.M.G., Gold Medalist of the Royal Geographic Society
|publisher= MACMILLAN & CO. LTD, 1940, LONDON |publisher= Macmillian & Co. Ltd.
|location=London
|pages=182–188; 200–208
|date=1940
|accessdate=2009-12-05}}</ref>
|pages=182–188, 200–208
The complete 20-page text of these detailed joint Afghan-British demarcation surveys is available in several sources, which point out that "J. Donald and Sardar Shireendil Khan settled the boundary from Sikaram Peak (34-03 north, 69-57 east) to Laram Peak (33-13 north, 70-05 east) in a document dated 21 November 1894. This section was marked by 76 pillars. The boundary from Laram Peak to ... Khwaja Khidr (32–34 north) ... was surveyed and marked by H. A. Anderson in concert with various Afghan chiefs ... marked by (39) pillars which are described in a report dated 15 April 1895. L. W. King (issued a report dated) 8 March 1895 (on) the demarcation of the section from Khwaja Khidr to Domandi (31–55 north) by 31 pillars. The line from Domandi to New Chaman (30–55 north, 66-22 east) was marked by 92 pillars by a joint demarcation commission led by ] (later ] ]) ] and Sardar Gul Muhammad Khan (who issued a) report dated 26 February 1895. McMahon also led the demarcation commission with Muhammad Umar Khan which marked the boundary from new Chaman to ... the tri-junction with Iran ... by 94 pillars which are described in a report dated 13 May 1896."<ref name="Prescott">{{cite book
|access-date=5 December 2009}}</ref>

The complete 20-page text of these detailed joint Indo-Afghan demarcation surveys is available in several sources.<ref name="Prescott">{{cite book
|title=Map of Mainland Asia by Treaty |title=Map of Mainland Asia by Treaty
|author=Prescott, J. R. V. |author=Prescott, J. R. V.
|publisher=Melbourne University Press, Carlton, Victoria, Australia, 1975 |publisher=Melbourne University Press
|location=Carlton, Victoria
|isbn=0-522-84083-3 |isbn=978-0-522-84083-4
|pages=182–208 |pages=182–208
|authorlink=John Robert Victor Prescott}}</ref><ref name="Janjua">{{cite web |author-link=John Robert Victor Prescott|year=1975
}}</ref><ref name="Janjua">{{cite web
|url=http://edocs.nps.edu/npspubs/scholarly/theses/2009/Jun/09Jun_Janjua.pdf |url = http://edocs.nps.edu/npspubs/scholarly/theses/2009/Jun/09Jun_Janjua.pdf
|title=In the Shadow of the Durand Line; Security, Stability, and the Future of Pakistan and Afghanistan |title = In the Shadow of the Durand Line; Security, Stability, and the Future of Pakistan and Afghanistan
|author=Muhammad Qaiser Janjua |author = Muhammad Qaiser Janjua
|publisher=Naval Postgraduate School, Monterrey, California, US, 2009 |publisher = Naval Postgraduate School
|location=Monterrey, California
|date=2009
|pages=22–27; 45
|pages = 22–27, 45
|accessdate=2009-12-14}}</ref>
|access-date = 14 December 2009
In 1896, the long stretch from the Kabul River to China, including the Wakhan Corridor, was declared demarcated by virtue of its continuous, distinct watershed ridgeline, leaving only the section near the ], which was finally demarcated in the treaty of 22 November 1921 signed by ], "Chief of the Afghan Government for the conclusion of the treaty" and "], Envoy Extraordinary and Chief of the British Mission to Kabul."<ref name="Prescott" />
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110720015319/http://edocs.nps.edu/npspubs/scholarly/theses/2009/Jun/09Jun_Janjua.pdf
|archive-date = 20 July 2011
}}</ref>

In 1896, the long stretch from the ] to China, including the Wakhan Corridor, was declared demarcated by virtue of its continuous, distinct watershed ridgeline, leaving only the section near the ] to be finally demarcated in the treaty of 22 November 1921, signed by ], "Chief of the Afghan Government for the conclusion of the treaty" and "], Envoy Extraordinary and Chief of the British Mission to Kabul."<ref name="Prescott" />
A very short adjustment to the demarcation was made at ] (Arnawai) in 1933–34.<ref name=Hay/><ref name="Prescott"/> A very short adjustment to the demarcation was made at ] (Arnawai) in 1933–34.<ref name=Hay/><ref name="Prescott"/>


===Cultural impact of the Durand Line=== ===Cultural impact of the Durand Line===
{{Unreferenced section|date=October 2021}}
Shortly after demarcation of the Durand Line, Abdur Rahman Khan conquered the ] and made them Muslims. Concurrently, Afridi tribesmen began rising up in arms against the British, creating a zone of instability between Peshawar and the Durand Line.
Shortly after demarcation of the Durand Line, the British began connecting the region on their side of the Durand Line to the ]. Meanwhile, Abdur Rahman Khan conquered the ] and made them Muslims. Concurrently, Afridi tribesmen began rising up in arms against the British, creating a zone of instability between Peshawar and the Durand Line. Further, frequent skirmishes and wars between the Afghanistan and India starting in the 1870s made travel between ] and ] almost impossible. As a result, travel across the boundary was almost entirely halted. Further, the British recruited tens of thousands of local Pashtuns into the ] and stationed them throughout India and southeast Asia. Exposure to India, combined with the ease of travel eastwards into ] and the difficulty of travel towards Afghanistan, led many Pashtuns to orient themselves towards the heartlands of ] and away from Kabul. By the time of Indian independence, political opinion was divided into those who supported a homeland for Muslim Indians in the shape of ], those who supported reunification with Afghanistan, and those who believed that a united India would be a better option.


=== British Indian Empire declares war on Afghanistan === === British Raj declares war on Afghanistan ===
{{further|Third Anglo-Afghan War}} {{further|Third Anglo-Afghan War}}


The Durand Line triggered a long-running ] between the governments of Afghanistan and the ],<ref name="LoC-Smith"/> especially after the outbreak of the ] when Afghanistan's capital (Kabul) and its eastern city of ] were ] by the ] and ] of the British ] in May 1919.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.national-army-museum.ac.uk/exhibitions/afghanistan/page4.shtml |title=The Road to Kabul: British armies in Afghanistan, 1839–1919 |publisher=] |accessdate=2011-02-11}}</ref><ref name="BL">{{cite web |url=http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpregion/asia/afghanistan/afghanistancollection/1919to1928/sources1919to1928.html |title=Afghanistan 1919–1928: Sources in the India Office Records |quote=''1919 (May), outbreak of Third Anglo-Afghan War. British bomb Kabul and Jalalabad;'' |publisher=]|accessdate=2011-02-11}}</ref> Nevertheless, Afghan rulers reaffirmed in the 1919, 1921, and 1930 treaties to accept the Indo-Afghan frontier.<ref name="WM"/><ref name="Prescott"/><ref>Jeffery J. Roberts, The Origins of Conflict in Afghanistan (Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2003), page 121.</ref>{{quote|''The Afghan Government accepts the Indo–Afghan frontier accepted by the late ]''|Article V of the August 8, 1919 ]}}{{quote|''The two high contracting parties mutually accept the Indo-Afghan frontier as accepted by the Afghan Government under Article V of the Treaty concluded on August 8, 1919''|Article II of the November 22, 1921 finalising of the Treaty of Rawalpindi}} The Durand Line triggered a long-running ] between the governments of Afghanistan and British India,<ref name="LoC-Smith"/> especially after the outbreak of the ] when Afghanistan's capital (Kabul) and its eastern city of ] were ] by the ] and ] of the British ] in May 1919.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.national-army-museum.ac.uk/exhibitions/afghanistan/page4.shtml |title=The Road to Kabul: British armies in Afghanistan, 1839–1919 |publisher=] |access-date=11 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126035657/http://www.national-army-museum.ac.uk/exhibitions/afghanistan/page4.shtml |archive-date=26 November 2010 }}</ref><ref name="BL">{{cite web |url=http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpregion/asia/afghanistan/afghanistancollection/1919to1928/sources1919to1928.html |title=Afghanistan 1919–1928: Sources in the India Office Records |quote=1919 (May), the outbreak of Third Anglo-Afghan War. British bomb Kabul and Jalalabad; |publisher=] |access-date=11 February 2011 |archive-date=16 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116111138/http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpregion/asia/afghanistan/afghanistancollection/1919to1928/sources1919to1928.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Afghan rulers reaffirmed in the 1919, 1921, and 1930 treaties to accept the Indo-Afghan frontier.<ref name="WM"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091216231305/http://www.afghanland.com/history/durrand.html |date=16 December 2009 }} by Wahid Momand</ref><ref name="Prescott"/><ref>Jeffery J. Roberts, The Origins of Conflict in Afghanistan (Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2003), p. 121.</ref>
{{blockquote|The Afghan Government accepts the Indo–Afghan frontier accepted by the late ]|Article V of the August 8, 1919 ]}}
{{blockquote|The two high contracting parties mutually accept the Indo-Afghan frontier as accepted by the Afghan Government under Article V of the Treaty concluded on August 8, 1919|Article II of the November 22, 1921 finalising of the Treaty of Rawalpindi}}


=== Territorial dispute between Afghanistan and Pakistan === === Territorial dispute between Afghanistan and Pakistan ===
{{See also|Afghanistan–Pakistan relations|Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts|Indo-Pakistani wars|War in Afghanistan (1978–present)|Civil war in Afghanistan}} {{See also|Afghanistan–Pakistan relations|War in Afghanistan (1978–present)|Afghan civil war (disambiguation)<!--intentional link to DAB page-->}}
Pakistan inherited the 1893 agreement and the subsequent 1919 Treaty of Rawalpindi after the ] in 1947. There has never been a ] agreement or ] between ] and Kabul.<ref name="DTP"/> Pakistan believes and international convention under ] supports the position that it should not require one;<ref name="WM"/> courts in several countries around the world and the ] have universally upheld via ''uti possidetis juris'' that binding bilateral agreements are "passed down" to successor ]<ref name = OAU-Cairo>Over 90% of present African nations signed both the ] (OAU) charter and the 1964 ], both of which "proclaimed the acceptance of colonial borders as the borders between independent states...through the legal principle of uti possidetis." {{cite web Pakistan inherited the 1893 agreement and the subsequent 1919 Treaty of Rawalpindi after the ] in 1947. There has never been a ] agreement or ] between ] and Kabul.<ref name="DTP">{{cite web |url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_1-2-2004_pg7_23 |title=Durand Line Treaty has not lapsed |work=] |location=Pakistan |first=Khalid |last=Hasan |date=1 February 2004 |access-date=11 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606143303/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_1-2-2004_pg7_23 |archive-date=6 June 2011 }}</ref> Pakistan believes, and international convention under ] supports, the position that it should not require an agreement to set the boundary;<ref name="WM"/> courts in several countries around the world and the ] have universally upheld via ''uti possidetis juris'' that binding bilateral agreements are "passed down" to successor ].<ref name = OAU-Cairo>Over 90% of present African nations signed both the ] (OAU) charter and the 1964 Cairo Declaration, both of which "proclaimed the acceptance of colonial borders as the borders between independent states...through the legal principle of uti possidetis." {{cite web
|url=http://www.paulhensel.org/Research/cmps07.pdf |url=http://www.paulhensel.org/Research/cmps07.pdf
|title=Territorial Integrity Treaties and Armed Conflict over Territory |title=Territorial Integrity Treaties and Armed Conflict over Territory
|author=Hensel, Paul R. |author=Hensel, Paul R.
|publisher=Department of Political Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, US |publisher=Department of Political Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee
|access-date=5 December 2009
|accessdate=2009-12-05}}</ref> Thus, a ] declaration by one party has no effect; boundary changes must be made bilaterally.<ref>Hensel, Paul R.; Michael E. Allison and Ahmed Khanani (2006) Presented at the Shambaugh Conference "Building Synergies: Institutions and Cooperation in World Politics," University of Iowa, 13 October 2006.</ref>
|archive-date=27 July 2011
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727164749/http://www.paulhensel.org/Research/cmps07.pdf
|url-status=live
}}</ref> Thus, a ] declaration by one party has no effect; boundary changes must be made bilaterally.<ref>Hensel, Paul R.; Michael E. Allison and Ahmed Khanani (2006) {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615031212/http://mailer.fsu.edu/~phensel/garnet-phensel/Research/iowa06.pdf |date=15 June 2011 }} Presented at the Shambaugh Conference "Building Synergies: Institutions and Cooperation in World Politics," University of Iowa, 13 October 2006.</ref>


At the time of independence, the ] Pashtun people<ref name="LoC" /> living on the border with Afghanistan were given only the choice of becoming a part either of ] or Pakistan.<ref name="Newsweek"/> The Pashtuns were not given the option to join Afghanistan--a choice that would have made sense given its geographic contiguity with Afghanistan and its historic, cultural, and religious links. By the time a vote was taken, most of FATA did not vote and a large majority of Pashtuns, especially the Khodai Khidmatgar movement, boycotted the election. The vote was said to have passed by a fraction of a percent in majority. The election was more of a formality and the wish of the majority of Pashtuns was not reflected in the result. At the time of independence, the ] Pashtun people<ref name="LoC" /> living on the border with Afghanistan were given only the choice of becoming a part either of ] or Pakistan.<ref name="Newsweek"/> Further, by the time of the Indian independence movement, prominent Pashtun nationalists such as ] and his ] movement advocated a united India, and not a united Afghanistan – highlighting the extent to which infrastructure and instability together began to erode Pashtun self-identification with Afghanistan.<ref name="Arwin">{{cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1353172|title=Would India and Afghanistan have had a close relationship had Pakistan not been founded?|work=Dawn|date=22 August 2017|accessdate=9 September 2017|first=Arwin|last=Rahi}}</ref> By the time of independence, popular opinion amongst Pashtuns was split amongst the majority who wished to join the newly formed state of Pakistan, and the minority who wished to become a part of the ]. When the idea of a united India failed, Ghaffar Khan pledged allegiance to Pakistan and started campaigning for the autonomy of Pakistan's Pashtuns.<ref name="Arwin"/>


On 26 July 1949, when ] were rapidly deteriorating, a ] was held in Afghanistan after a ] from the Pakistan Air Force ] in response to cross-border fire from the Afghan side. In response, the Afghan government declared that it recognised "neither the imaginary Durand nor any similar line" and that all previous Durand Line agreements were ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+af0022) |title=The Pashtunistan Issue |publisher=Library of Congress Country Studies |location=United States |first=Craig |last=Baxter| author-link = Craig Baxter |year=1997 |access-date=11 February 2011 |archive-date=16 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130216071805/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+af0022%29 |url-status=live }}</ref> They also announced that the Durand ethnic division line had been imposed on them under ]/] and was a ]. This had no tangible effect as there has never been a move in the ] to enforce such a declaration due to both nations being constantly busy in wars with their other neighbours (See ''] and ]''). In 1950 the ] held its view on the Afghan-Pakistan dispute over the Durand Line by stating:
Some scholars have suggested that memoranda from British officials in the 1890s suggest that the Durand Line was never intended to be a boundary demarcating sovereignty, but rather a line of control beyond which either side agreed not to interfere unless there were an expedient need to do so. These same scholars suggest that the frontier agreement was not of the form of an "executed clause", which usually caters for sovereign boundary demarcation and which cannot be unilaterally repudiated. Yet the British never honored their side of the agreement, frequently interfering in Afghan affairs on the western side of the Durand Line. Thus, the validity of the line and agreement remains in question.


{{blockquote|] has seen with regret the disagreements between the Governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan about the status of the territories on the North West Frontier. It is His Majesty's Government's view that Pakistan is in international law the inheritor of the rights and duties of the old Government of India and of his Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom in these territories and that the Durand Line is the international frontier.<ref>Durand Line, 1956, p. 12.</ref>|]|June 30, 1950}}
On July 26, 1949, when ] were rapidly deteriorating, a ] was held in Afghanistan after a ] from the ] bombed a village on the Afghan side of the Durand Line. In response, the Afghan government declared that it recognized "neither the imaginary Durand nor any similar line" and that all previous Durand Line agreements were ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+af0022) |title=The Pashtunistan Issue |publisher=Library of Congress Country Studies |location=United States |first=Craig |last=Baxter |year=1997|accessdate=2011-02-11}}</ref> They also announced that the Durand ethnic division line had been imposed on them under ]/] and was a ].

At the 1956 SEATO (]) Ministerial Council Meeting held at ], capital of Pakistan at the time, it was stated:

{{blockquote|The members of the Council declared that their governments recognised that the sovereignty of Pakistan extends up to the Durand Line, the international boundary between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and it was consequently affirmed that the Treaty area referred to in Articles IV and VIII of the Treaty includes the area up to that Line.<ref>Durand Line, 1956, p. 13</ref>|SEATO|March 8, 1956}}

In 1976, the then president of Afghanistan, ] recognised Durand Line as international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. He made this declaration while he was on an official visit to ], ].<ref name="Rasanayagam 2005 64"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Dorronsoro|first=Gilles|title=Revolution Unending: Afghanistan, 1979 to present|page=84|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FApipiENsgwC|publisher=Hurst & Co. Publisher|year=2005|isbn=978-1850656838|access-date=7 July 2019|archive-date=16 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816131806/https://books.google.com/books?id=FApipiENsgwC|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Nunan 2016 125"/>

==Geography==
]'s peak in the background, the highest peak of the ]]]
The border is south of the ], while its eastern end by China is in the ] range. These are regions of extreme high elevation, hence much of the Durand Line is bounded by mountains. The ] (''White Mountains'') range is roughly in the middle of the Line. The western part of the Line meanwhile is lower and sparse, consisting of the ].

] of Afghanistan]]
The highest peak, ], is located along the border between two countries, while some of the highest peaks in the world, including ], are a short distance to the east of the Line's end on the Pakistani side.

The ], ], ] and ] all cross the Durand Line. At the very western end of the line is the ].

==Border regions==
The border is {{cvt|2611|km}} long. Twelve ] are located along the border: Nimroz, Helmand, Kandahar, Zabul, Paktika, Khost, Paktia, Logar, Nangarhar, Kunar, Nuristan and Badakhshan.

], ], and the ] region of ] share a border with the Durand Line.

==Border crossings and economy==
{{See also|List of Afghanistan–Pakistan border crossings}}
The two countries are major trade partners, and therefore the various border crossings are economically important for the wider region,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taliban-claims-control-key-afghan-border-crossing-with-pakistan-2021-07-14/ |title=Afghan Taliban seize border crossing with Pakistan in major advance |website=] |date=14 July 2021 |access-date=23 July 2021 |archive-date=23 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723192242/https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taliban-claims-control-key-afghan-border-crossing-with-pakistan-2021-07-14/ |url-status=live |last1=Sediqi |first1=Abdul Qadir }}</ref> particularly the ] and ] that is also the main land connection between Central Asia and the ].


== Contemporary era == == Contemporary era ==
{{further|War in Afghanistan (1978–present)|Af-Pak|CIA activities in Afghanistan}} {{further|Afghanistan conflict (1978–present)|Soviet–Afghan War|Af-Pak|CIA activities in Afghanistan}}
] ] at the ] in 1983.]] ] ] at the ] in 1983]]
Pakistan's largest ] (the ]), which began with the birth of the nation, has been heavily involved in the affairs of Afghanistan since the late 1970s. During ], the ISI with full support/] from the ] and the ] in the United States recruited huge numbers of mujahideen militant groups on the Pakistani side of the Durand line to cross into Afghanistan's territory for missions to destroy the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://supportdanielboyd.wordpress.com/so-called-%E2%80%9Cterrorist-camps%E2%80%9D-in-1989-and-training/|title=So called "terrorist camps" (in 1989?) and training|work=Support Daniel Boyd's Blog}}</ref> Afghanistan ] was one of two secret service agencies believed to have been conducting bombings in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (NWFP) during the early 1980s.<ref name="autogenerated1987">{{cite news| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,963894-2,00.html | work=Time | title=Pakistan Knocking at the Nuclear Door | date=March 30, 1987 | accessdate=May 24, 2010}}</ref> U.S State Department blamed WAD (a ] created Afghan secret intelligence agency) for terrorist bombings in Pakistan's cities in 1987 and 1988.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/23/opinion/how-zia-s-death-helped-the-us.html?pagewanted=1 | work=The New York Times | title=How Zia's Death Helped the U.S | first1=Robert D. | last1=Kaplan | date=August 23, 1989 | accessdate=May 24, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/25/world/fbi-allowed-to-investigate-crash-that-killed-zia.html | work=The New York Times | title=F.B.I. Allowed to Investigate Crash That Killed Zia | first=Robert | last=Pear | date=June 25, 1989 | accessdate=May 24, 2010}}</ref> It is also believed that Afghanistan's PDPA government supported ] ] organization of Pakistan, the group accused of the 1981 hijacking of a ] plane from Karachi to Kabul.
]-funded and ]-trained ] fighters crossing the Durand Line border to fight the Soviet forces and the Soviet-backed ] in 1985.]]


During ], the ISI, with support and funding from the ] (CIA) of the United States, recruited mujahideen militant groups on the Pakistani side of the Durand line to cross into Afghanistan's territory for missions to topple the ].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://supportdanielboyd.wordpress.com/so-called-%E2%80%9Cterrorist-camps%E2%80%9D-in-1989-and-training/|title=So called "terrorist camps" (in 1989?) and training|work=Support Daniel Boyd's Blog|date=2 August 2009 |access-date=16 December 2009|archive-date=10 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090810092215/http://supportdanielboyd.wordpress.com/so-called-%E2%80%9Cterrorist-camps%E2%80%9D-in-1989-and-training/|url-status=live}}</ref> Afghanistan ] was one of two secret service agencies believed to have been conducting bombings in parts of the ] (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) during the early 1980s.<ref name="autogenerated1987">{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,963894-2,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110109171126/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,963894-2,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 January 2011 |magazine=Time |title=Pakistan Knocking at the Nuclear Door |date=30 March 1987 |access-date=24 May 2010}}</ref> U.S State Department blamed WAD (a ]-created Afghan secret intelligence agency) for terrorist bombings in Pakistan's cities in 1987 and 1988.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/23/opinion/how-zia-s-death-helped-the-us.html?pagewanted=1 |work=The New York Times |title=How Zia's Death Helped the U.S |first1=Robert D. |last1=Kaplan |date=23 August 1989 |access-date=24 May 2010 |archive-date=15 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415104017/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/23/opinion/how-zia-s-death-helped-the-us.html?pagewanted=1 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/25/world/fbi-allowed-to-investigate-crash-that-killed-zia.html |work=The New York Times |title=F.B.I. Allowed to Investigate Crash That Killed Zia |first=Robert |last=Pear |date=25 June 1989 |access-date=24 May 2010 |archive-date=15 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415104016/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/25/world/fbi-allowed-to-investigate-crash-that-killed-zia.html |url-status=live}}</ref> It is also believed that Afghanistan's PDPA government supported the ] ] organization of Pakistan, the group accused of the 1981 hijacking of a ] plane from Karachi to Kabul.
After the collapse of the pro-Soviet Afghan government in 1992, Pakistan obviously being aware of article 2 of the Durand Line Agreement, where it mentions ''"The Government of India ('''Pakistan''') <u>will at no time exercise interference</u> in the territories lying beyond this line on the side of Afghanistan"'', created a ] in Afghanistan run by the ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/taliban/interviews/tomsen.html |title=Interview with Peter Tomsen, |quote=President ]'s special envoy and ambassador to the Afghan resistance from 1989 to 1992 |publisher=] ] |accessdate=2011-02-11}}</ref> According to a summer 2001 report in ], even the Taliban leaders challenged the very existence of the Durand Line when former ] ] and a ] of about 95 Taliban visited Pakistan.<ref name="Roashan"> by Dr. G. Rauf Roashan. August 11, 2001.</ref> The Taliban refused to endorse the Durand Line despite pressure from Islamabad, arguing that there shall be no borders among Muslims. When the ] was removed in late 2001, the new ] ] also began resisting the Durand Line.<ref> by Selig S. Harrison, ]. May 11, 2009.</ref>{{quote|''"A line of hatred that raised a wall between the two brothers."''|Hamid Karzai}}
]-funded and ]-trained ] fighters crossing the Durand Line to fight the Soviet-backed ] in 1985]]


After the collapse of the pro-Soviet Afghan government in 1992, Pakistan, despite Article 2 of the Durand Line Agreement which states "The Government of India will at no time exercise interference in the territories lying beyond this line on the side of Afghanistan", attempted to create a ] in Afghanistan prior to ] control according to ] on Afghanistan ].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/taliban/interviews/tomsen.html |title=Interview with Peter Tomsen |date=3 October 2006 |quote=President ]'s special envoy and ambassador to the Afghan resistance from 1989 to 1992 |publisher=] ] |access-date=11 February 2011 |archive-date=5 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805084549/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/taliban/interviews/tomsen.html |url-status=live}}</ref> According to a summer 2001 report in '']'', even the Taliban leaders challenged the very existence of the Durand Line when former ] ] and a delegation of about 95 Taliban visited Pakistan.<ref name="Roashan"> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325161737/http://www.institute-for-afghan-studies.org/Contributions/Commentaries/DRRoashanArch/2001_08_11_unholy_durand_line.htm |date=25 March 2012}} by Dr. G. Rauf Roashan. 11 August 2001.</ref> The Taliban refused to endorse the Durand Line despite pressure from Islamabad, arguing that there shall be no borders among Muslims. When the ] was removed in late 2001, the ] ] also began resisting the Durand Line,<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803132932/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/10/AR2009051001959.html |date=3 August 2017}} by Selig S. Harrison, '']''. 11 May 2009.</ref> and today the present ] does not recognize Durand Line as its international border. No Afghan government has recognized the Durand Line as its border since 1947.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801035645/https://books.google.com/books?id=2eNuAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA290 |date=1 August 2020 }} By John F. Shroder. Elselvier, San Diego, California, USA. 2014. p290</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=admin interview with former President Hamid Karzai|title=We will respect Pashtuns' decision on Pashtunistan: Karzai|url=http://afghanistantimes.af/we-will-respect-pashtuns-decision-on-pashtunistan-karzai/|newspaper=Afghan Times|date=2 September 2016|quote="No one will recognize it. It cannot separate the nation. The line has not separated the nation."|access-date=7 September 2016|archive-date=7 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160907115215/http://afghanistantimes.af/we-will-respect-pashtuns-decision-on-pashtunistan-karzai/|url-status=live}}</ref>
The ] (AGCHO) depicts the line on their maps as a ] border, including naming the "Durand Line 2310 km (1893)" as an "International Boundary Line" on their home page.<ref name=AGCHO>{{cite web
|url=http://www.agcho.org/
|title=Afghan Geodesy and Cartography Head Office (AGCHO)
|accessdate=2009-12-05}}</ref> However, a map in an article from the "General Secretary of The Government of Balochistan in Exile" extends the border of Afghanistan to the ].<ref name="WM"/> The Pashtun dominated ] not only refuses to recognize the Durand Line as the international border between the two countries, it claims that the Pashtun territories of Pakistan rightly belong to Afghanistan.<ref name="FG"/> Many in Afghanistan as well as some Pakistani politicians find the existence of the international boundary splitting ethnic Pashtun areas to be at least objectionable if not abhorrent.<ref name="PAN">PAN, , August 3, 2009.</ref> Some argue that the 1893 treaty expired in 1993, after 100 years elapsed, and should be treated similarly to the ].<ref name="WM"> by Wahid Momand</ref><ref name="AO">''"(3) The Durand Line is an unofficial porous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 1893, the British and the Afghan Amir (Abdur Rahman Khan) agreed to set up the Durand line (named after the foreign Secretary of the Indian government, Sir Mortimer Durand) to divide Afghanistan and what was then British India.</ref><ref name="A"></ref><ref name="Roashan"/><ref>Daily Times – , by Mohammed Rizwan. September 30, 2005.</ref> However, neither the relatively short Durand Line Agreement itself nor the much longer joint boundary demarcation documents that followed in 1894-6 make any mention of a time limit suggesting the treaty should be treated similar to the ] and ] or any other international boundary agreement (none of which have time limits.) In 2004, spokespersons of ]'s Office of the Geographer and Global Issues and British ] also pointed out that the Durand Line Agreement has no mention of an expiration date.{{quote|''Recurrent claims that (the) Durand Treaty expired in 1993 are unfounded. ] depictions of boundary conflict with each other, but Treaty depictions are clear.''<ref name="DTP"/>|A spokesperson for U.S. State Department's Office of the Geographer and Global Issues}}


{{blockquote|A line of hatred that raised a wall between the two brothers.|Hamid Karzai}}
Because the Durand Line divides the Pashtun and ], it continues to be a source of tension between the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan.<ref name="Newsweek2">Newsweek, </ref> In August 2007, Pakistani politician and the leader of ], ], urged Afghanistan to recognize the Durand Line.<ref name="Dawn">Dawn News, </ref> Press statements from 2005 to 2007 by former ] ] calling for the building of a fence on the Durand Line have been met with resistance from numerous Pashtun political parties within Afghanistan.<ref>PAN, , January 3, 2007.</ref><ref>PAN, , January 10, 2007.</ref><ref>PAN, , January 10, 2007.</ref><ref>PAN, , January 10, 2007.</ref><ref>PAN, , January 9, 2007.</ref><ref>PAN, , January 7, 2007.</ref><ref>PAN, , January 7, 2007.</ref><ref>PAN, , January 7, 2007.</ref> Pashtun politicians in Afghanistan strenuously object to even the existence of the Durand Line border.<ref name="PAN"/>
] border crossing, 2007]]
The ] (AGCHO) depicts the line on their maps as a ] border, including naming the "Durand Line 2310 km (1893)" as an "International Boundary Line" on their home page.<ref name=AGCHO>{{cite web |url=http://www.agcho.org/ |title=Afghan Geodesy and Cartography Head Office (AGCHO) |access-date=5 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100121182748/http://agcho.org/ |archive-date=21 January 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, a map in an article from the Pashtun-dominated ] not only refuses to recognise the Durand Line as the international border between the two countries, it claims that the Pashtun territories of Pakistan rightly belong to Afghanistan.<ref name="FG" /> The Durand Line Agreement makes no mention of a time limit, thus suggesting the treaty has no expiry date. In 2004, spokespersons of ]'s Office of the Geographer and Global Issues and British ] also pointed out that the Durand Line Agreement has no mention of an expiry date.


{{blockquote|Recurrent claims that (the) Durand Treaty expired in 1993 are unfounded. Cartographic depictions of boundary conflict with each other, but Treaty depictions are clear.<ref name="DTP"/>|A spokesperson for U.S. State Department's Office of the Geographer and Global Issues}}
Aimal Faizi, spokesman for the ], stated in October 2012 that the Durand Line is "an issue of historical importance for Afghanistan. The Afghan people, not the government, can take a final decision on it."<ref name="No change in stance on Durand Line"/>


] Administrator ] with Pakistani ] and government officials right in front of the Afghan-Pakistani border]]
=== Recent border conflicts ===
{{Further|Afghanistan–Pakistan skirmishes|Drone attacks in Pakistan}}
] ] ] with ] ] Gen. ] at the ] in ], Afghanistan.]]
In July 2003, Pakistani and Afghan forces clashed over border posts. The Afghan government claimed that Pakistani military established bases up to 600 meters inside Afghanistan in the Yaqubi area near bordering ].<ref name="globalsecurity">{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2003/07/25-170703.htm|title=RFE/RL Afghanistan Report|author=John Pike|work=globalsecurity.org}}</ref> The Yaqubi and Yaqubi Kandao (Pass) area were later found to fall within Afghanistan.<ref> NGA Geonames database</ref> In 2007, Pakistan erected fences and posts a few hundred meters inside Afghanistan, near the border-straddling bazaar of ] in ], but the ] quickly removed them and began shelling Pakistani positions.<ref name="globalsecurity" /> Leaders in Pakistan said the fencing was a way to prevent Taliban militants from crossing over between the two nations but Afghan President Hamid Karzai believed that it is Islamabad plan to permanently separate the Pashtun tribes.<ref></ref> ] from the ] have been based at ], Afghanistan, seven kilometers west of Angoor Ada, since 2002.<ref>. Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved on 2013-07-12.</ref> In 2009, the ] (ISAF) and American CIA have begun using ]s from the Afghan side to hit terrorist targets on the Pakistani side of the Durand Line.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-4285.html|title=NEWKERALA.COM for News, Information & Entertainment Stuff|author=NK|work=newkerala.com}}</ref>
] unmanned aerial vehicle, which are launched from Afghanistan to engage targets on the Pakistani side of the Durand Line.]]
] in ] of Afghanistan.]]
] check travelers' passports at Torkham Gate in Nangarhar province.]]
The border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan has long been one of the most dangerous places in the world, due largely to very little government control. It is legal and common in the region to carry guns, and ]s and explosives are common.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/search/journey/tribaltheme.html |title=Pakistan's Tribal Areas |first=Kamran |last=Khan |publisher=PBS Frontline |accessdate=2011-02-11}}</ref> Many forms of illegal activities take place, such as smuggling of ]s, ]s, ], ], ]s, ], ]s, and electronic products, as well as ordinary ] goods.<ref name="Newsweek2"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.army.mil/article/22349/|title=Soldiers disrupt timber smuggling in Afghan province|author=Amber Robinson|date=9 June 2009|accessdate=14 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://archives.dawn.com/2002/06/28/nat34.htm|title=Timber smuggling from Afghanistan on the rise|author=Abdul Sami Paracha|publisher=Dawn|date=28 June 2002|accessdate=14 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://archives.dawn.com/2005/12/19/nat28.htm|title=Six Pakistanis held in Afghanistan on timber smuggling charge|publisher=Dawn|date=19 September 2005|accessdate=14 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/4721119-pakistan-suggests-curbs-to-end-smuggling-from-afghanistan|title=Pakistan suggests curbs to end smuggling from Afghanistan|date=30 November 2009|accessdate=14 February 2013}}</ref> Kidnappings and murders are frequent.<ref name="DN" /> Numerous outsiders with extremist views came from around the Muslim world to settle in the Durand Line region over the past 30 years. While most of the time the Taliban cross the Durand Line from Afghanistan into Pakistan and carry out attacks inside Pakistani cities, sometimes they cross from the Pakistani side of the border and attack Afghan security forces. Recently, 300 Taliban militants from Afghanistan's territory launched attacks on Pakistani border posts in which 34 Pakistani security forces were believed to be killed. It is also believed ] Taliban leader ] is hiding somewhere inside Afghanistan.<ref>The News.pk, , August 28, 2011.</ref> In June 2011 more than 500 Taliban militants entered Upper Dir area from Afghanistan and killed more than 30 Pakistani security forces. Police said the attackers targeted a checkpost, destroyed two schools and several houses, while killing a number of civilians.<ref>. Thefrontierpost.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-12.</ref>


Because the Durand Line divides the Pashtun and ], it continues to be a source of tension between the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan.<ref name="Newsweek2">Newsweek, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010132807/http://www.newsweek.com/id/73137/page/2 |date=10 October 2008}}</ref> In August 2007, Pakistani politician and the leader of ], ], urged Afghanistan to recognise the Durand Line.<ref name="Dawn">''Dawn'' News, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101030225032/http://www.dawn.com/2007/08/24/top6.htm |date=30 October 2010}}</ref> Press statements from 2005 to 2007 by former ] ] calling for the building of a fence on the Durand Line have been met with resistance from numerous Pashtun political parties in Afghanistan.<ref>PAN, , 3 January 2007.</ref><ref>PAN, , 10 January 2007.</ref><ref>PAN, , 10 January 2007.</ref> Pashtun politicians in Afghanistan strenuously object to even the existence of the Durand Line border.<ref name="PAN">PAN, {{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, 3 August 2009.</ref> In 2006 Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned that "] and Pakistan and others are not fooling anyone."
The governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan are both trying to extend the rule of law into the border areas. At the same time, the United States is reviewing the Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZ) ] in ], which is supposed to help the economic status of the Pashtun and ] by providing jobs to a large number of the population on both sides of the Durand Line border.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s496/show|title=S.496: Afghanistan and Pakistan Reconstruction Opportunity Zones Act of 2009 – U.S. Congress – OpenCongress|work=OpenCongress}}</ref>


{{blockquote|If they don't stop, the consequences will be ... that the region will suffer with us equally. In the past we have suffered alone; this time everybody will suffer with us.... Any effort to divide Afghanistan ethnically or weaken it will create the same thing in the neighboring countries. All the countries in the neighborhood have the same ethnic groups that we have, so they should know that it is a different ball game this time.<ref name="FG" />|Hamid Karzai|February 17, 2006}}
Much of the northern and central Durand line is quite mountainous, where crossing the border is often only practical in the numerous passes through the mountains. Border crossings are very common, especially among Pashtuns who cross the border to meet relatives or to work. The movement of people crossing the border has largely been unchecked or uncontrolled,<ref name="Newsweek2"/> although ]s and ] are at times checked at official crossings. In June 2011 the United States installed a ] system at the border crossing near ] aimed at improving the security situation and blocking the infiltration of insurgents into southern Afghanistan.<ref>. June 9, 2011.</ref>


Aimal Faizi, spokesman for the Afghan President, stated in October 2012 that the Durand Line is "an issue of historical importance for Afghanistan. The Afghan people, not the government, can take a final decision on it."<ref name="No change in stance on Durand Line" />
Between June and July 2011, Pakistan Chitral Scouts and local defence militias suffered deadly cross border raids. In response the Pakistani military reportedly shelled some Afghan villages in Afghanistan's ], ], Nangarhar, and Khost provinces resulting in a number of Afghan civilians being killed.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2011/07/01/pakistan-fires-missiles-khost-say-border-police |title=Pakistan fires missiles into Khost, say border police |quote=Nearly a dozen missiles were fired from Pakistan into Afghanistan's southeastern Khost province over the past 24 hours, border police said on Friday. |date=2011-07-01 |publisher=] |accessdate=2011-07-06}}</ref> Afghan sources claimed that nearly 800 rounds of missiles were fired from Pakistan, hitting civilian targets inside Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.yahoo.com/afghanistan-wont-fire-back-pakistan-karzai-124842643.html |title=Afghanistan won't fire back on Pakistan: Karzai |date=2011-07-01 |publisher=Reuters |accessdate=2011-07-06}}</ref> The reports claimed that attacks by Pakistan resulted in the deaths of 42 Afghan civilians, including children, wounded many others and destroyed 120 homes. Although Pakistan claims it was an accident and just routine anti Taliban operations, some analysts believe that it could have been a show of strength by Islamabad. For example, a senior official at the ] explained that because the shelling was of large scale it is more likely to be a warning from Pakistan than an accident.<ref name=Nichols>{{cite web |url=http://news.yahoo.com/afghanistan-pakistan-coordinate-amid-cross-border-confusion-125326901.html|title=Afghanistan, Pakistan to coordinate amid cross-border confusion|publisher=Reuters |location=United States |first=Michelle |last=Nichols |date=July 7, 2011|accessdate=2011-07-09}}</ref>{{quote|''"I'm speculating, but natural possibilities include a signal to Karzai and to (the United States) that we can't push Pakistan too hard."<ref name=Nichols/>|]}}


=== Recent border skirmishes ===
The United States and other NATO states often ignore this sensitive issue, likely because of potential effects on their war strategy in Afghanistan. Their involvement could strain relations and jeopardise their own national interests in the area.<ref name="FG"/>This came after the ] in which 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed.<ref>Tolo News, . 10 December 2011</ref> In response to that incident, Pakistan decided to cut off all NATO supply lines as well as boost border security by installing anti-aircraft guns and radars to monitor air activity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/10/world/asia/pakistan-military/index.html?section=cnn_latest|title=Pakistan boosts border security after airstrike|author=the CNN Wire Staff|date=10 December 2011|work=CNN}}</ref> Regarding the Durand Line, some rival maps are said to display discrepancies of as much as five kilometers.<ref>{{Cite news |author= Boone, Jon |title= Nato air attack on Pakistani troops was self-defence, says senior western official |url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/26/nato-air-attack-pakistan-soldiers |work= ] |date= November 27, 2011 |accessdate= November 27, 2011}}</ref>
In July 2003, Pakistani and Afghan forces clashed over border posts. The Afghan government claimed that the Pakistani military established bases up to 600 meters inside Afghanistan in the Yaqubi area near bordering ].<ref name="globalsecurity">{{cite web |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2003/07/25-170703.htm|title=RFE/RL Afghanistan Report|author=John Pike |work=globalsecurity.org |access-date=30 January 2008|archive-date=23 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090523123740/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2003/07/25-170703.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The Yaqubi and Yaqubi Kandao (Pass) area were later found to fall within Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gnswww.nga.mil/geonames/GNS/index.jsp |title=Geonames Query Home Page |access-date=3 April 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070407223825/http://gnswww.nga.mil/geonames/GNS/index.jsp |archive-date=7 April 2007}} NGA Geonames database</ref> In 2007, Pakistan erected fences and posts a few hundred metres inside Afghanistan near the border-straddling bazaar of ] in ], but the ] quickly removed them and began shelling Pakistani positions.<ref name="globalsecurity" /> Leaders in Pakistan said the fencing was a way to prevent Taliban militants from crossing over between the two nations, but Afghan President Hamid Karzai believed that it is Islamabad's plan to permanently separate the Pashtun tribes.<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123143833/http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/news/article_1293995.php/Clash_erupts_between_Afghan_Pakistani_forces_over_border_fence |date=23 January 2013}}</ref> ] from the ] were based at ], Afghanistan, seven kilometres west of Angoor Ada, from 2002.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090807174810/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/fb_shkin.htm |date=7 August 2009}}. Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved on 12 July 2013.</ref> In 2009, the ] (ISAF) and American CIA began using ]s from the Afghan side to hit terrorist targets on the Pakistani side of the Durand Line.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-4285.html|title=NEWKERALA.COM for News, Information & Entertainment Stuff|author=NK|work=newkerala.com|access-date=5 December 2009|archive-date=20 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120211230/http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-4285.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

] check travellers' passports at Torkham Gate in Nangarhar province]]

The border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan has long been one of the most dangerous places in the world, due largely to very little government control. It is legal and common in the region to carry guns, and ]s and explosives are common.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/search/journey/tribaltheme.html |title=Pakistan's Tribal Areas |first=Kamran |last=Khan |publisher=PBS Frontline |access-date=11 February 2011 |archive-date=2 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130802032852/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/search/journey/tribaltheme.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Many forms of illegal activities take place, such as smuggling of ]s, ]s, ], ], ]s, ], ]s, and electronic products, as well as ordinary ] goods.<ref name="Newsweek2"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.army.mil/article/22349/|title=Soldiers disrupt timber smuggling in Afghan province|author=Amber Robinson|date=9 June 2009|access-date=14 February 2013|archive-date=1 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101170004/http://www.army.mil/article/22349/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://archives.dawn.com/2002/06/28/nat34.htm|title=Timber smuggling from Afghanistan on the rise|author=Abdul Sami Paracha|newspaper=Dawn|date=28 June 2002|access-date=14 February 2013|archive-date=1 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101132613/http://archives.dawn.com/2002/06/28/nat34.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://archives.dawn.com/2005/12/19/nat28.htm|title=Six Pakistanis held in Afghanistan on timber smuggling charge|newspaper=Dawn|date=19 September 2005|access-date=14 February 2013|archive-date=1 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101132129/http://archives.dawn.com/2005/12/19/nat28.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/4721119-pakistan-suggests-curbs-to-end-smuggling-from-afghanistan|title=Pakistan suggests curbs to end smuggling from Afghanistan|date=30 November 2009|access-date=14 February 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101203051/http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/4721119-pakistan-suggests-curbs-to-end-smuggling-from-afghanistan|archive-date=1 November 2013}}</ref> Kidnappings and murders are frequent.<ref name="DN" />
Militants frequently cross the border from both sides to conduct attacks.<ref>The News.pk, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111116001626/http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=8439&Cat=13 |date=16 November 2011}}, 28 August 2011.</ref> In June 2011 more than 500 Taliban militants entered Upper Dir area from Afghanistan and killed more than 30 Pakistani security forces. Police said the attackers targeted a checkpost, destroyed two schools and several houses, while killing a number of civilians.<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421183511/http://www.thefrontierpost.com/?p=69232 |date=21 April 2012}}. ''The Frontier Post''. Retrieved on 12 July 2013.</ref>

The governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan are both trying to extend the rule of law into the border areas. At the same time, the United States is reviewing the Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZ) ] in ], which is supposed to help the economic status of the Pashtun and ] by providing jobs to a large number of the population on both sides of the Durand Line border.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s496/show|title=S.496: Afghanistan and Pakistan Reconstruction Opportunity Zones Act of 2009 – U.S. Congress – OpenCongress|work=OpenCongress|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090718235449/http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s496/show|archive-date=18 July 2009}}</ref>

Much of the northern and central Durand line is quite mountainous, where crossing the border is often only practical in the numerous passes through the mountains. Border crossing is very common, especially among Pashtuns who cross to meet relatives or to work. The movement of people across the border has largely been unchecked or uncontrolled,<ref name="Newsweek2"/> although ]s and ] are at times checked at official crossings. In June 2011 the United States installed a ] system at the border crossing near ], aimed at improving the security situation and blocking the infiltration of insurgents into southern Afghanistan.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510154215/http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2011/06/09/biometric-system-installed-spin-boldak |date=10 May 2013}}. 9 June 2011.</ref>

Throughout June and into July 2011, Pakistan ] and local defence militias suffered deadly cross-border raids. In response the Pakistani military shelled some Afghan villages in Afghanistan's ], ], ], and ] provinces resulting in a number of Afghan civilians being killed.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2011/07/01/pakistan-fires-missiles-khost-say-border-police |title=Pakistan fires missiles into Khost, say border police |quote=Nearly a dozen missiles were fired from Pakistan into Afghanistan's southeastern Khost province over the past 24 hours, border police said on Friday. |date=1 July 2011 |publisher=] |access-date=6 July 2011 |archive-date=2 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111202001132/http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2011/07/01/pakistan-fires-missiles-khost-say-border-police |url-status=live}}</ref> Afghanistan's ] claimed that nearly 800 ] were fired from Pakistan, hitting civilian targets inside Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-karzai-shelling/afghanistan-wont-fire-back-on-pakistan-karzai-idUSTRE7642IH20110705|title=Afghanistan won't fire back on Pakistan: Karzai|last=Shalizi|first=Hamid|date=1 July 2011|access-date=6 July 2011|publisher=Reuters|archive-date=6 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306044409/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-karzai-shelling/afghanistan-wont-fire-back-on-pakistan-karzai-idUSTRE7642IH20110705|url-status=live}}</ref> The Afghan statement claimed that attacks by Pakistan resulted in the deaths of 42 Afghan civilians, including 30 men and 12 women and girls, wounded 55 others and destroyed 120 homes. Although Pakistan claimed it was an accident and just routine anti-Taliban operations, some analysts believe that it could have been a show of strength by Islamabad. For example, a senior official at the ] explained that because the shelling was of such a large scale, it was more likely a warning from Pakistan than an accident.<ref name=Nichols>{{cite web |url=https://news.yahoo.com/afghanistan-pakistan-coordinate-amid-cross-border-confusion-125326901.html|title=Afghanistan, Pakistan to coordinate amid cross-border confusion|publisher=Reuters |location=United States |first=Michelle |last=Nichols |date=7 July 2011|access-date=9 July 2011}}</ref>

{{blockquote|I'm speculating, but natural possibilities include a signal to Karzai and to (the United States) that we can't push Pakistan too hard.<ref name=Nichols/>|]}}

The United States and other NATO states often ignored this sensitive issue, likely because of potential effects on their war strategy in Afghanistan. Their involvement could have strained relations and jeopardized their own national interests in the area.<ref name="FG" /> This came after the ] in which 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed.<ref>Tolo News, {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117145213/http://tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/4635-terrorist-safe-havens-in-pakistan-must-go-joint-chiefs-head-says- |date=17 January 2012}}. 10 December 2011.</ref> In response to that incident, Pakistan decided to cut off all NATO supply lines as well as boost border security by installing anti-aircraft guns and radars to monitor air activity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/10/world/asia/pakistan-military/index.html?section=cnn_latest|title=Pakistan boosts border security after airstrike|author=Wire Staff|date=10 December 2011|publisher=CNN|access-date=11 December 2011|archive-date=5 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005033552/http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/10/world/asia/pakistan-military/index.html?section=cnn_latest|url-status=live}}</ref> Regarding the Durand Line, some rival maps are said to display discrepancies of as much as five kilometres.<ref>{{Cite news |author=Boone, Jon |title=Nato air attack on Pakistani troops was self-defence, says senior western official |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/nov/26/nato-air-attack-pakistan-soldiers |work=] |date=27 November 2011 |access-date=27 November 2011 |archive-date=1 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131001065741/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/nov/26/nato-air-attack-pakistan-soldiers |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Trench being built alongside the border===
In June 2016, Pakistan announced that it had completed 1,100&nbsp;km of trenches along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border (Durand Line) in ] to check movement of terrorists and smugglers across border into Pakistan from Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Butt|first1=Qaiser|title=1,100km trench built alongside Pak-Afghan border in Balochistan|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1126353/1100km-trench-built-alongside-pak-afghan-border-balochistan/|access-date=9 September 2017|work=]|date=20 June 2016|archive-date=9 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909234212/https://tribune.com.pk/story/1126353/1100km-trench-built-alongside-pak-afghan-border-balochistan/|url-status=live}}</ref> Plans to expand this trench/ berm/ fence work were announced in March 2017.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Gul|first1=Ayaz|title=Pakistan Begins Fencing of Afghan Border|url=http://www.voanews.com/a/pakistan-fencing-off-afghanistan-border/3781631.html|access-date=25 March 2017|publisher=]|date=25 March 2017|archive-date=25 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170325164043/http://www.voanews.com/a/pakistan-fencing-off-afghanistan-border/3781631.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The plans also included building 338 checkpoints and forts along the border by 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1327567|title=Former TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan has turned himself in: Pak Army|date=17 April 2017|website=Dawn|access-date=23 October 2017|archive-date=3 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903184930/https://www.dawn.com/news/1327567|url-status=live}}</ref>

===2017 border closure and reopening===
On 16 February, Pakistan closed the border crossings at ] and ] due to security reasons following the ].<ref>{{cite news|title=Pak. closes Afghan border crossing|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/pak-closes-afghan-border-crossing/article17327204.ece|access-date=21 March 2017|work=]|agency=]|date=19 February 2017|archive-date=16 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816131810/https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/pak-closes-afghan-border-crossing/article17327204.ece|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Pak-Afghan border closed for indefinite period: ISPR|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/186754-Pak-Afghan-border-closed-for-indefinite-period-ISPR|access-date=21 March 2017|work=]|date=16 February 2017|archive-date=24 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224122142/https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/186754-Pak-Afghan-border-closed-for-indefinite-period-ISPR|url-status=live}}</ref> On 7 March, the border was reopened for two days to facilitate the return of people to their respective countries who had earlier crossed the border on valid visas. The decision was taken after repeated requests by Afghanistan's government to avert 'a humanitarian crisis'.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Mashal|first1=Mujib|title=Closed Afghan-Pakistani Border Is Becoming 'Humanitarian Crisis'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/05/world/asia/afghanistan-pakistan-border.html?_r=0|access-date=21 March 2017|work=]|date=5 March 2017|archive-date=13 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913122131/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/05/world/asia/afghanistan-pakistan-border.html?_r=0|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=People throng Torkham as border reopens for two days|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1348712/throngs-people-pak-afghan-border-reopened-two-days/|access-date=21 March 2017|work=]|date=7 March 2017|archive-date=22 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322202850/https://tribune.com.pk/story/1348712/throngs-people-pak-afghan-border-reopened-two-days/|url-status=live}}</ref> According to a Pakistani official, 24,000 Afghans returned to Afghanistan, while 700 Pakistanis returned to Pakistan, before the border was indefinitely closed again.<ref>{{cite news|title=Pakistan indefinitely closes Afghan border|url=http://www.skynews.com.au/news/world/mideast/2017/03/10/pakistan-indefinitely-closes-afghan-border.html|access-date=21 March 2017|publisher=]|agency=]|date=10 March 2017|archive-date=22 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322203009/http://www.skynews.com.au/news/world/mideast/2017/03/10/pakistan-indefinitely-closes-afghan-border.html|url-status=live}}</ref> On 20 March, Pakistani Prime Minister ] ordered the reopening of Afghanistan–Pakistan border as a "goodwill gesture", 32 days after it was closed.<ref>{{cite news|title=Pakistani prime minister orders the reopening of border with Afghanistan, ending costly closure|url=http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-pakistan-afghanistan-border-20170320-story.html|access-date=21 March 2017|work=]|agency=]|date=20 March 2017|archive-date=28 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328100328/http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-pakistan-afghanistan-border-20170320-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Afzaal|first1=Ali|title=Pak-Afghan border reopens after 32 days|url=https://www.geo.tv/latest/135032-Pak-Afghan-border-reopens-at-PMs-behest|access-date=21 March 2017|work=]|date=21 March 2017|archive-date=21 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321082936/https://www.geo.tv/latest/135032-Pak-Afghan-border-reopens-at-PMs-behest|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 5 May, following an ] by Afghan forces and the resulting exchange of fire between the two sides, the border was closed again.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/05/firing-afghanistan-pakistan-border-census-team-kills-civilian-170505070934446.html |title=Pakistan-Afghanistan crossing closed after border clash |work=] |date=7 May 2017 |access-date=7 May 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170507050745/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/05/firing-afghanistan-pakistan-border-census-team-kills-civilian-170505070934446.html |archive-date=7 May 2017}}</ref>

Pakistan's decision to close the border was to force Afghanistan to take action against militant groups who were using Afghanistan's soil to carry out cross-border attacks against Pakistan.<ref name=VOA12>{{cite news|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/closed-pakistan-afghan-border-causes-pain-trade-losses/3744162.html|title=Closed Pakistan-Afghan Border Causes Pain, Trade Losses|access-date=28 February 2017|publisher=Voice of America|author=Zabiullah Ghazi|archive-date=1 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301021607/http://www.voanews.com/a/closed-pakistan-afghan-border-causes-pain-trade-losses/3744162.html|url-status=live}}</ref> An Afghan diplomat at the ] (WTO) claimed that Afghanistan suffered a loss of 90 million U.S. dollars as a result of closure of border by Pakistan.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.firstpost.com/world/pakistan-closes-durand-line-causes-90-mn-trade-loss-for-afghanistan-3381260.html|title=Pakistan closes Durand Line, causes $90 mn trade loss for Afghanistan|access-date=12 April 2017|publisher=FirstPost|author=Sheerupa Mitra|archive-date=12 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170412224950/http://www.firstpost.com/world/pakistan-closes-durand-line-causes-90-mn-trade-loss-for-afghanistan-3381260.html|url-status=live}}</ref> On 27 May 2017, Pakistan reopened the border after a request from Afghan authorities, marking the end of the border closure that lasted 22 days.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1335758/pakistan-opens-chaman-border-crossing-on-humanitarian-grounds-after-22-days|title=Pakistan opens Chaman border crossing on 'humanitarian grounds' after 22 days|first=Naveed|last=Siddiqui|work=Dawn|date=28 May 2017|access-date=28 May 2017|archive-date=27 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170527144235/https://www.dawn.com/news/1335758/pakistan-opens-chaman-border-crossing-on-humanitarian-grounds-after-22-days|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Border barrier==
{{Main|Afghanistan–Pakistan border barrier}}
Pakistan has been constructing a ] since 2017 to prevent ], ], ], ], ] and infiltration across the Durand Line.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/opinions/2021/2/25/the-pak-afghan-border-fence-is-a-step-in-the-right-direction|title=Pakistan-Afghanistan border fence, a step in the right direction|date=25 February 2021|accessdate= 7 January 2022|work=]}}</ref> According to ] the barrier is also necessary to block the infiltration of militants across the border.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.irinnews.org/feature/2003/10/30/focus-bilateral-border-dispute|title=Focus on bilateral border dispute|date=30 October 2003|website=IRIN|language=en|access-date=15 March 2019|archive-date=16 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190316230729/http://www.irinnews.org/feature/2003/10/30/focus-bilateral-border-dispute|url-status=live}}</ref> As of January 2019, 900&nbsp;km has been completed.<ref>{{Cite AV media|last=Al Jazeera English|title=🇵🇰 'Trump-style wall': Pakistan building wall on Afghan border|date=29 January 2019|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u99zxKUrzyM|access-date=15 March 2019|via=]|archive-date=7 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191007064706/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u99zxKUrzyM&list=PUNye-wNBqNL5ZzHSJj3l8Bg&index=195|url-status=live}}</ref> The Durand Line is marked by 235 crossing points, many of which had been susceptible to illegal immigration. The project is predicted to cost at least $532&nbsp;million.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bloombergquint.com/politics/the-fence-driving-a-wedge-between-pakistan-and-afghanistan|title=The Fence Driving a Wedge Between Pakistan and Afghanistan|website=BloombergQuint|date=31 October 2017 |access-date=15 March 2019|archive-date=30 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730041919/https://www.bloombergquint.com/politics/the-fence-driving-a-wedge-between-pakistan-and-afghanistan|url-status=live}}</ref>

As of 21 January 2022 the interior minister of Pakistan stated that only 20&nbsp;km of fencing remains and it will be completed soon.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nation.com.pk/21-Jan-2022/2680kms-fencing-along-pak-afghan-border-completed-sh-rashid-tells-senate |title=2680kms fencing along Pak-Afghan border completed, Sh Rashid tells Senate |website=nation.com.pk |access-date=14 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121082348/https://nation.com.pk/21-Jan-2022/2680kms-fencing-along-pak-afghan-border-completed-sh-rashid-tells-senate |archive-date=21 January 2022 |url-status=dead}}</ref>


== See also == == See also ==
{{Portal|Afghanistan|Pakistan}} {{Portal|Afghanistan|Pakistan}}
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]


== References ==
{{clear}}
{{Reflist}}{{Notelist}}


== Further reading == == Further reading ==
* Dogra, R. (2019) ''Durand's Curse: A Line Across the Pathan Heart'', Rupa: New Delhi. {{ISBN|978-8129148643}}
{{cite journal|title=The Durand Line (Special issue)|journal=Internationales Asienforum|date=2013|volume=44|issue=1–2}}
* {{cite journal |title=Special Issue: The Durand Line |url=http://asianstudies.arnold-bergstraesser.de/vol-44-heft-issue-1-2-may-2013-special-issue-the-durand-line |date=May 2013 |journal=] |volume=44|issue=1–2}}


{{commons category|Durand Line}}
== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Durand line}}
{{wikisource|Durand Line Agreement}} {{wikisource|Durand Line Agreement}}
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516124823/http://www.afghanic.de/images/Docs/Durand%20Line%20Agreement.pdf |date=16 May 2018 }}
*
*
*
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* Bijan Omrani, published in ''Asian Affairs'', vol. 40, Issue 2, 2009. * Bijan Omrani, published in ''Asian Affairs'', vol. 40, Issue 2, 2009.
* * , published in the RUSI Journal, Oct 2009, Vol. 154, No. 5
*
*
* , '']'' 30 March 2008
*
* , '']'', 4 April 2008
*
*
* '']## March 30, 2008
* '']'' April 4, 2008



{{Borders of Afghanistan}}
{{Borders of Pakistan}}
{{Afghanistan–Pakistan relations}} {{Afghanistan–Pakistan relations}}
{{Pashtun nationalism}} {{Pashtun nationalism}}


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Latest revision as of 06:53, 19 December 2024

International border between Afghanistan and Pakistan

Durand Line
Map marking the Durand Line border in red
Characteristics
Entities Afghanistan
 Pakistan
Length2,640 km (1,640 mi)
History
Established12 November 1893
Signing of the Durand Line Agreement at the end of the first phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War
Current shape8 August 1919
Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 ratified at the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War
TreatiesTreaty of Gandamak, Durand Line Agreement, Treaty of Rawalpindi

The Durand Line (Pashto: د ډیورنډ کرښه; Urdu: ڈیورنڈ لائن; Dari: خط دیورند), also known as the Afghanistan–Pakistan border, is a 2,640-kilometre (1,640 mi) international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan in South Asia. The western end runs to the border with Iran and the eastern end to the border with China.

The Durand Line was established in 1893 as the international border between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the British Indian Empire by Mortimer Durand, a British diplomat of the Indian Civil Service, and Abdur Rahman Khan, the Emir of Afghanistan, to fix the limit of their respective spheres of influence and improve diplomatic relations and trade. Britain considered Afghanistan to be an independent state at the time, although they controlled its foreign affairs and diplomatic relations.

The single-page Agreement, dated 12 November 1893, contains seven short articles, including a commitment not to exercise interference beyond the Durand Line. A joint British-Afghan demarcation survey took place starting from 1894, covering some 800 miles (1,300 km) of the border. Established towards the end of the British–Russian "Great Game" rivalry, the resulting line established Afghanistan as a buffer zone between British and Russian interests in the region. The line, as slightly modified by the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919, was inherited by Pakistan in 1947, following its independence.

The Durand line cuts through to demarcate Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and the contested region of Gilgit-Baltistan of northern and western Pakistan from the northeastern and southern provinces of Afghanistan. From a geopolitical and geostrategic perspective, it has been described as one of the most dangerous borders in the world.

Although the Durand Line is internationally recognized as the western border of Pakistan, it remains largely unrecognized in Afghanistan. Sardar Mohammed Daoud Khan, former prime minister and president of Afghanistan, vigorously opposed the border and launched a propaganda war – however during his visit to Pakistan in August 1976 he softened his tone by recognising the Durand line as the border. In 2017, amid cross-border tensions, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that Afghanistan will "never recognise" the Durand Line as the border between the two countries.

Historical background

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See also: European influence in Afghanistan and Military history of the North-West Frontier
Arachosia and the Pactyans during the 1st millennium BC

The area through which the Durand Line runs has been inhabited by the indigenous Pashtuns since ancient times, at least since 500 BC. The Greek historian Herodotus mentioned a people called Pactyans living in and around Arachosia as early as the 1st millennium BC. The Baloch tribes inhabit the southern end of the line, which runs in the Balochistan region that separates the ethnic Baloch people.

Arab Muslims conquered the area in the 7th century and introduced Islam to the Pashtuns. It is believed that some of the early Arabs also settled among the Pashtuns in the Sulaiman Mountains. These Pashtuns were historically known as "Afghans" and are believed to be mentioned by that name in Arabic chronicles as early as the 10th century. The Pashtun area (known today as the "Pashtunistan" region) fell within the Ghaznavid Empire in the 10th century followed by the Ghurids, Timurids, Mughals, Hotakis, by the Durranis, and thereafter the Sikhs.

Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, British diplomat and civil servant in British India. The Durand Line is named in his honour.

In 1839, during the First Anglo-Afghan War, British-led Indian forces invaded Afghanistan and initiated a war with the Afghan rulers. Two years later, in 1842, the British were defeated and the war ended. The British again invaded Afghanistan in 1878, during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The British decided to accept a new Amir who was a British opponent – Abdur Rahman Khan and the Treaty of Gandamak was signed in 1880. Afghanistan ceded control of various frontier areas to India. The British failed in their objective to maintain a British resident in Kabul but having attained their other geopolitical objectives, the British withdrew.

In 1893, Mortimer Durand was dispatched to Kabul by the Government of India to sign an agreement with Amir Abdur Rahman Khan for fixing the limits of their respective spheres of influence as well as improving diplomatic relations and trade. On 12 November 1893, the Durand Line Agreement was reached. The two parties later camped at Parachinar, a small town near Khost in Afghanistan, which is now part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan, to delineate the frontier.

From the British-Indian side, the camp was attended by Mortimer Durand and Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum, Political Agent Khyber Agency representing the Viceroy of India and Governor General of India. The Afghan side was represented by Sahibzada Abdul Latif and a former governor of Khost Province in Afghanistan, Sardar Shireendil Khan, representing Amir Abdur Rahman Khan. The original 1893 Durand Line Agreement was written in English, with translated copies in Dari.

The resulting agreement or treaty led to the creation of a new province called the North-West Frontier Province, now known as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province of Pakistan which includes FATA and the Frontier Regions. It also led to Afghanistan receiving Nuristan and Wakhan.

Demarcation surveys on the Durand Line

The initial and primary demarcation, a joint Indo-Afghan survey and mapping effort, covered 1,300 kilometres (800 mi) and took place from 1894 to 1896. Detailed topographic maps locating hundreds of boundary demarcation pillars were soon published and are available in the Survey of India collection at the British Library.

The complete 20-page text of these detailed joint Indo-Afghan demarcation surveys is available in several sources.

In 1896, the long stretch from the Kabul River to China, including the Wakhan Corridor, was declared demarcated by virtue of its continuous, distinct watershed ridgeline, leaving only the section near the Khyber Pass to be finally demarcated in the treaty of 22 November 1921, signed by Mahmud Tarzi, "Chief of the Afghan Government for the conclusion of the treaty" and "Henry R. C. Dobbs, Envoy Extraordinary and Chief of the British Mission to Kabul." A very short adjustment to the demarcation was made at Arundu (Arnawai) in 1933–34.

Cultural impact of the Durand Line

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Shortly after demarcation of the Durand Line, the British began connecting the region on their side of the Durand Line to the North Western State Railway. Meanwhile, Abdur Rahman Khan conquered the Nuristanis and made them Muslims. Concurrently, Afridi tribesmen began rising up in arms against the British, creating a zone of instability between Peshawar and the Durand Line. Further, frequent skirmishes and wars between the Afghanistan and India starting in the 1870s made travel between Peshawar and Jalalabad almost impossible. As a result, travel across the boundary was almost entirely halted. Further, the British recruited tens of thousands of local Pashtuns into the Indian Army and stationed them throughout India and southeast Asia. Exposure to India, combined with the ease of travel eastwards into Punjab and the difficulty of travel towards Afghanistan, led many Pashtuns to orient themselves towards the heartlands of British India and away from Kabul. By the time of Indian independence, political opinion was divided into those who supported a homeland for Muslim Indians in the shape of Pakistan, those who supported reunification with Afghanistan, and those who believed that a united India would be a better option.

British Raj declares war on Afghanistan

Further information: Third Anglo-Afghan War

The Durand Line triggered a long-running controversy between the governments of Afghanistan and British India, especially after the outbreak of the Third Anglo-Afghan War when Afghanistan's capital (Kabul) and its eastern city of Jalalabad were bombed by the No. 31 and No. 114 Squadrons of the British Royal Air Force in May 1919. Afghan rulers reaffirmed in the 1919, 1921, and 1930 treaties to accept the Indo-Afghan frontier.

The Afghan Government accepts the Indo–Afghan frontier accepted by the late Amir

— Article V of the August 8, 1919 Treaty of Rawalpindi

The two high contracting parties mutually accept the Indo-Afghan frontier as accepted by the Afghan Government under Article V of the Treaty concluded on August 8, 1919

— Article II of the November 22, 1921 finalising of the Treaty of Rawalpindi

Territorial dispute between Afghanistan and Pakistan

See also: Afghanistan–Pakistan relations, War in Afghanistan (1978–present), and Afghan civil war (disambiguation)

Pakistan inherited the 1893 agreement and the subsequent 1919 Treaty of Rawalpindi after the partition from the British India in 1947. There has never been a formal agreement or ratification between Islamabad and Kabul. Pakistan believes, and international convention under uti possidetis juris supports, the position that it should not require an agreement to set the boundary; courts in several countries around the world and the Vienna Convention have universally upheld via uti possidetis juris that binding bilateral agreements are "passed down" to successor states. Thus, a unilateral declaration by one party has no effect; boundary changes must be made bilaterally.

At the time of independence, the indigenous Pashtun people living on the border with Afghanistan were given only the choice of becoming a part either of India or Pakistan. Further, by the time of the Indian independence movement, prominent Pashtun nationalists such as Abdul Ghaffar Khan and his Khudai Khidmatgar movement advocated a united India, and not a united Afghanistan – highlighting the extent to which infrastructure and instability together began to erode Pashtun self-identification with Afghanistan. By the time of independence, popular opinion amongst Pashtuns was split amongst the majority who wished to join the newly formed state of Pakistan, and the minority who wished to become a part of the Dominion of India. When the idea of a united India failed, Ghaffar Khan pledged allegiance to Pakistan and started campaigning for the autonomy of Pakistan's Pashtuns.

On 26 July 1949, when Afghan–Pakistan relations were rapidly deteriorating, a loya jirga was held in Afghanistan after a military aircraft from the Pakistan Air Force bombed a village on the Afghan side of the Durand Line in response to cross-border fire from the Afghan side. In response, the Afghan government declared that it recognised "neither the imaginary Durand nor any similar line" and that all previous Durand Line agreements were void. They also announced that the Durand ethnic division line had been imposed on them under coercion/duress and was a diktat. This had no tangible effect as there has never been a move in the United Nations to enforce such a declaration due to both nations being constantly busy in wars with their other neighbours (See Indo-Pakistani wars and Civil war in Afghanistan). In 1950 the House of Commons of the United Kingdom held its view on the Afghan-Pakistan dispute over the Durand Line by stating:

His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom has seen with regret the disagreements between the Governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan about the status of the territories on the North West Frontier. It is His Majesty's Government's view that Pakistan is in international law the inheritor of the rights and duties of the old Government of India and of his Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom in these territories and that the Durand Line is the international frontier.

— Philip Noel-Baker, June 30, 1950

At the 1956 SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization) Ministerial Council Meeting held at Karachi, capital of Pakistan at the time, it was stated:

The members of the Council declared that their governments recognised that the sovereignty of Pakistan extends up to the Durand Line, the international boundary between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and it was consequently affirmed that the Treaty area referred to in Articles IV and VIII of the Treaty includes the area up to that Line.

— SEATO, March 8, 1956

In 1976, the then president of Afghanistan, Sardar Mohammed Daoud Khan recognised Durand Line as international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. He made this declaration while he was on an official visit to Islamabad, Pakistan.

Geography

Borki, a village at the border, with Mount Sikaram's peak in the background, the highest peak of the White Mountains

The border is south of the Hindu Kush, while its eastern end by China is in the Karakoram range. These are regions of extreme high elevation, hence much of the Durand Line is bounded by mountains. The Spīn Ghar (White Mountains) range is roughly in the middle of the Line. The western part of the Line meanwhile is lower and sparse, consisting of the Registan Desert.

A view towards the border in Pakistan, taken in Paktia Province of Afghanistan

The highest peak, Noshaq, is located along the border between two countries, while some of the highest peaks in the world, including K2, are a short distance to the east of the Line's end on the Pakistani side.

The Kunar River, Kabul River, Kurram River and Gomal River all cross the Durand Line. At the very western end of the line is the Godzareh Depression.

Border regions

The border is 2,611 km (1,622 mi) long. Twelve Afghan provinces are located along the border: Nimroz, Helmand, Kandahar, Zabul, Paktika, Khost, Paktia, Logar, Nangarhar, Kunar, Nuristan and Badakhshan.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan share a border with the Durand Line.

Border crossings and economy

See also: List of Afghanistan–Pakistan border crossings

The two countries are major trade partners, and therefore the various border crossings are economically important for the wider region, particularly the Torkham and Khyber Pass that is also the main land connection between Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Contemporary era

Further information: Afghanistan conflict (1978–present), Soviet–Afghan War, Af-Pak, and CIA activities in Afghanistan
Afghan mujahideen representatives with President Ronald Reagan at the White House in 1983

During Operation Cyclone, the ISI, with support and funding from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States, recruited mujahideen militant groups on the Pakistani side of the Durand line to cross into Afghanistan's territory for missions to topple the Soviet-backed Afghan government. Afghanistan KHAD was one of two secret service agencies believed to have been conducting bombings in parts of the North West Frontier (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) during the early 1980s. U.S State Department blamed WAD (a KGB-created Afghan secret intelligence agency) for terrorist bombings in Pakistan's cities in 1987 and 1988. It is also believed that Afghanistan's PDPA government supported the leftist Al-Zulfiqar organization of Pakistan, the group accused of the 1981 hijacking of a Pakistan International Airlines plane from Karachi to Kabul.

CIA-funded and ISI-trained mujahideen fighters crossing the Durand Line to fight the Soviet-backed Afghan government in 1985

After the collapse of the pro-Soviet Afghan government in 1992, Pakistan, despite Article 2 of the Durand Line Agreement which states "The Government of India will at no time exercise interference in the territories lying beyond this line on the side of Afghanistan", attempted to create a puppet state in Afghanistan prior to Taliban control according to US Special Envoy on Afghanistan Peter Tomsen. According to a summer 2001 report in The Friday Times, even the Taliban leaders challenged the very existence of the Durand Line when former Afghan Interior Minister Abdur Razzaq and a delegation of about 95 Taliban visited Pakistan. The Taliban refused to endorse the Durand Line despite pressure from Islamabad, arguing that there shall be no borders among Muslims. When the Taliban government was removed in late 2001, the Afghan President Hamid Karzai also began resisting the Durand Line, and today the present Government of Afghanistan does not recognize Durand Line as its international border. No Afghan government has recognized the Durand Line as its border since 1947.

A line of hatred that raised a wall between the two brothers.

— Hamid Karzai
A U.S. soldier at Torkham border crossing, 2007

The Afghan Geodesy and Cartography Head Office (AGCHO) depicts the line on their maps as a de facto border, including naming the "Durand Line 2310 km (1893)" as an "International Boundary Line" on their home page. However, a map in an article from the Pashtun-dominated Government of Afghanistan not only refuses to recognise the Durand Line as the international border between the two countries, it claims that the Pashtun territories of Pakistan rightly belong to Afghanistan. The Durand Line Agreement makes no mention of a time limit, thus suggesting the treaty has no expiry date. In 2004, spokespersons of U.S. State Department's Office of the Geographer and Global Issues and British Foreign and Commonwealth Office also pointed out that the Durand Line Agreement has no mention of an expiry date.

Recurrent claims that (the) Durand Treaty expired in 1993 are unfounded. Cartographic depictions of boundary conflict with each other, but Treaty depictions are clear.

— A spokesperson for U.S. State Department's Office of the Geographer and Global Issues
US DEA Administrator Karen P. Tandy with Pakistani Frontier Corps and government officials right in front of the Afghan-Pakistani border

Because the Durand Line divides the Pashtun and Baloch people, it continues to be a source of tension between the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan. In August 2007, Pakistani politician and the leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Fazal-ur-Rehman, urged Afghanistan to recognise the Durand Line. Press statements from 2005 to 2007 by former Pakistani President Musharraf calling for the building of a fence on the Durand Line have been met with resistance from numerous Pashtun political parties in Afghanistan. Pashtun politicians in Afghanistan strenuously object to even the existence of the Durand Line border. In 2006 Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned that "Iran and Pakistan and others are not fooling anyone."

If they don't stop, the consequences will be ... that the region will suffer with us equally. In the past we have suffered alone; this time everybody will suffer with us.... Any effort to divide Afghanistan ethnically or weaken it will create the same thing in the neighboring countries. All the countries in the neighborhood have the same ethnic groups that we have, so they should know that it is a different ball game this time.

— Hamid Karzai, February 17, 2006

Aimal Faizi, spokesman for the Afghan President, stated in October 2012 that the Durand Line is "an issue of historical importance for Afghanistan. The Afghan people, not the government, can take a final decision on it."

Recent border skirmishes

In July 2003, Pakistani and Afghan forces clashed over border posts. The Afghan government claimed that the Pakistani military established bases up to 600 meters inside Afghanistan in the Yaqubi area near bordering Mohmand District. The Yaqubi and Yaqubi Kandao (Pass) area were later found to fall within Afghanistan. In 2007, Pakistan erected fences and posts a few hundred metres inside Afghanistan near the border-straddling bazaar of Angoor Ada in South Waziristan, but the Afghan National Army quickly removed them and began shelling Pakistani positions. Leaders in Pakistan said the fencing was a way to prevent Taliban militants from crossing over between the two nations, but Afghan President Hamid Karzai believed that it is Islamabad's plan to permanently separate the Pashtun tribes. Special Forces from the United States Army were based at Shkin, Afghanistan, seven kilometres west of Angoor Ada, from 2002. In 2009, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and American CIA began using unmanned aerial vehicles from the Afghan side to hit terrorist targets on the Pakistani side of the Durand Line.

Afghan Border Police check travellers' passports at Torkham Gate in Nangarhar province

The border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan has long been one of the most dangerous places in the world, due largely to very little government control. It is legal and common in the region to carry guns, and assault rifles and explosives are common. Many forms of illegal activities take place, such as smuggling of weapons, narcotics, lumber, copper, gemstones, marble, vehicles, and electronic products, as well as ordinary consumer goods. Kidnappings and murders are frequent. Militants frequently cross the border from both sides to conduct attacks. In June 2011 more than 500 Taliban militants entered Upper Dir area from Afghanistan and killed more than 30 Pakistani security forces. Police said the attackers targeted a checkpost, destroyed two schools and several houses, while killing a number of civilians.

The governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan are both trying to extend the rule of law into the border areas. At the same time, the United States is reviewing the Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZ) Act in Washington, D.C., which is supposed to help the economic status of the Pashtun and Baloch tribes by providing jobs to a large number of the population on both sides of the Durand Line border.

Much of the northern and central Durand line is quite mountainous, where crossing the border is often only practical in the numerous passes through the mountains. Border crossing is very common, especially among Pashtuns who cross to meet relatives or to work. The movement of people across the border has largely been unchecked or uncontrolled, although passports and visas are at times checked at official crossings. In June 2011 the United States installed a biometric system at the border crossing near Spin Boldak, aimed at improving the security situation and blocking the infiltration of insurgents into southern Afghanistan.

Throughout June and into July 2011, Pakistan Chitral Scouts and local defence militias suffered deadly cross-border raids. In response the Pakistani military shelled some Afghan villages in Afghanistan's Nuristan, Kunar, Nangarhar, and Khost provinces resulting in a number of Afghan civilians being killed. Afghanistan's Interior Ministry claimed that nearly 800 rockets were fired from Pakistan, hitting civilian targets inside Afghanistan. The Afghan statement claimed that attacks by Pakistan resulted in the deaths of 42 Afghan civilians, including 30 men and 12 women and girls, wounded 55 others and destroyed 120 homes. Although Pakistan claimed it was an accident and just routine anti-Taliban operations, some analysts believe that it could have been a show of strength by Islamabad. For example, a senior official at the Council on Foreign Relations explained that because the shelling was of such a large scale, it was more likely a warning from Pakistan than an accident.

I'm speculating, but natural possibilities include a signal to Karzai and to (the United States) that we can't push Pakistan too hard.

— Stephen Biddle

The United States and other NATO states often ignored this sensitive issue, likely because of potential effects on their war strategy in Afghanistan. Their involvement could have strained relations and jeopardized their own national interests in the area. This came after the November 2011 NATO bombing in which 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed. In response to that incident, Pakistan decided to cut off all NATO supply lines as well as boost border security by installing anti-aircraft guns and radars to monitor air activity. Regarding the Durand Line, some rival maps are said to display discrepancies of as much as five kilometres.

Trench being built alongside the border

In June 2016, Pakistan announced that it had completed 1,100 km of trenches along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border (Durand Line) in Balochistan to check movement of terrorists and smugglers across border into Pakistan from Afghanistan. Plans to expand this trench/ berm/ fence work were announced in March 2017. The plans also included building 338 checkpoints and forts along the border by 2019.

2017 border closure and reopening

On 16 February, Pakistan closed the border crossings at Torkham and Chaman due to security reasons following the Sehwan blast. On 7 March, the border was reopened for two days to facilitate the return of people to their respective countries who had earlier crossed the border on valid visas. The decision was taken after repeated requests by Afghanistan's government to avert 'a humanitarian crisis'. According to a Pakistani official, 24,000 Afghans returned to Afghanistan, while 700 Pakistanis returned to Pakistan, before the border was indefinitely closed again. On 20 March, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered the reopening of Afghanistan–Pakistan border as a "goodwill gesture", 32 days after it was closed.

On 5 May, following an attack on Pakistani census team by Afghan forces and the resulting exchange of fire between the two sides, the border was closed again.

Pakistan's decision to close the border was to force Afghanistan to take action against militant groups who were using Afghanistan's soil to carry out cross-border attacks against Pakistan. An Afghan diplomat at the World Trade Organization (WTO) claimed that Afghanistan suffered a loss of 90 million U.S. dollars as a result of closure of border by Pakistan. On 27 May 2017, Pakistan reopened the border after a request from Afghan authorities, marking the end of the border closure that lasted 22 days.

Border barrier

Main article: Afghanistan–Pakistan border barrier

Pakistan has been constructing a border barrier since 2017 to prevent terrorism, drug trafficking, refugees, illegal immigration, smuggling and infiltration across the Durand Line. According to Pakistan the barrier is also necessary to block the infiltration of militants across the border. As of January 2019, 900 km has been completed. The Durand Line is marked by 235 crossing points, many of which had been susceptible to illegal immigration. The project is predicted to cost at least $532 million.

As of 21 January 2022 the interior minister of Pakistan stated that only 20 km of fencing remains and it will be completed soon.

See also

References

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  1. India also claims to have a border with Afghanistan on the eastern part of the Durand Line due to its claim on Kashmir. (See Borders of India#Land borders of India.)

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    conflicts
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