The Durand line is a 2,640-kilometer (1,640-mile) contentious porous border that runs between Pakistan and Afghanistan. This is a largely unfenced and unpoliced border which means easy access and unchecked border crossings across both sides. The deep seated border dispute began when the Emir of Afghanistan, Abdur Rahman Khan, signed an agreement with Sir Mortimer Durand, the Indian Foreign Secretary of British India in Kabul in 1893. It was an effort by the British to strengthen their control over the northern parts of India and fix the respective spheres of influence. The conflict arises when we look at the the region that the line was drawn upon.

The Durand line runs through what was historically Pashtun land, one of the largest tribal societies in modern day South Asia; separating millions of pashtuns between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The pashto speaking people are roughly spread across south of Amu River in Afghanistan to west of the Indus River in Pakistan, consisting of approximately 50 million people. However, after partition from India in 1947, when Pakistan inherited the Durand line agreement, the Afghan government declared that it did not recognize the border and considered the agreement void. Since then there has been no formal agreement or ratification of this international border between Islamabad and Kabul. Pakistan following Britain’s example has given autonomy to the residing tribes. In this region the rules and regulations of Pakistan’s law and government are not applied and the residents cross the border without restriction. The lawless century-old frontier has proved to be a safe-haven for various militant groups and a target site for hundreds of U.S. led drone strikes. According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, there has been at least 422 strikes along the Durand Line since June 2004, leading to the killings of at least 315 civilians.

The issue of Durand Line is of historical importance for Afghanistan. Modern day Afghanistan emerged from the fragmentation of the Durrani Dynasty, an 18th century Pashtun Empire based in the Afghan city of Kandahar. The entire region of Southern and Eastern Afghanistan and the adjacent Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and northern Baluchistan regions in Pakistan, often referred to as Pashtunistan, is inhabited by indigenous pashtuns, belonging to different pashtun tribes. These people practice Pashtunwali which is an indigenous culture that pre-dates Islamic identity. It a tribal honor code that has dictated the pashtun way of life for centuries. This prehistoric system of law and governance is still strictly adhered to in large parts surrounding non-urbanized rural areas.

Pashtuns have resided in the mountainous territories surrounding the Durand line for centuries and historically that region has always remained outside of government rule or control. One existing theory behind the present situation of Durand Line is that the leaders of both the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan fear revolt from pashtun tribes which could potentially result in collapse of the state. It is considered a legitimate threat because of its historical precedence as Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of the last Afghan Empire, united different Pashtun tribes to invade India.