Durand Line
The Root of Afghanistan-Pakistan Tensions
The Durand Line is the 2,640-km international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, agreed upon in 1893 between Sir Mortimer Durand (British India's Foreign Secretary) and Afghan Amir Abdur Rahman Khan. It divided the Pashtun tribal belt between British India (now Pakistan) and Afghanistan, and has been a source of dispute ever since.
- The Durand Line was drawn under the framework of British India's "Forward Policy" to create a buffer zone against Russian expansion (the Great Game)
- No Afghan government — including the current Taliban — has formally accepted the Durand Line as a permanent international border
- The line cuts through Pashtun and Baloch tribal areas, dividing families, clans, and cultural territories
- Pakistan considers it an internationally recognized border (the successor state to British India under UN state succession principles)
- The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which Pakistan designates as a terrorist group, operates from Afghan soil — a core grievance for Islamabad
- Cross-border clashes have intensified significantly since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021
● Tracked since February 18, 2026 · last seen April 27, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
01 Apr '26
Pakistan, Afghan Taliban resume talks in China as Beijing seeks ceasefire
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13 Mar '26
Pakistan bombs airline fuel depot near Kandahar airport: Afghan Taliban
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01 Mar '26
Blasts heard in Kabul amid clashes between Afghanistan, Pakistani forces
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28 Feb '26
Taliban & terror: How Pakistan came to declare ‘open war’ on Afghanistan
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Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
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Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
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India's Strategic Interests in Afghanistan
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Implications for India
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India's Strategic Calculus
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Drone Warfare
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