On 12th November 1893, the agreement was signed in Kabul Afghanistan. Afghanistan and Pakistan are separated by the Durand Line, a 2,640-kilometer (1,640-mile) border. According to Sir Mortimer Durand, a British Indian government official, and Abdur Rahman Khan, the ruler of Afghanistan, it was the result of an agreement. Over the past century, the Durand Line has served as an official border between the two nations, but it has caused controversy among the residents.
Near the Durand Line, two major ethnic groups exist. Punjabis and Pashtuns. Sunni Muslims make up the majority of both groups. The majority of Pakistanis are Punjabis. The majority of Afghans are Pashtun. Pashtuns also live in northwestern Pakistan, where they once ruled over 103,600 square kilometers of territory before being defeated by the British in 1847. During this time, Pashtuns fought to keep the Punjabis from expanding further into the mountains of southeast Afghanistan.
Afghanistan governs all Pashtuns on one side of the Durand Line, while Pakistan governs all Pashtuns on the other. More than half of the Pashtuns lived on the Pakistani side of the border, but they were now under Punjabi control, which made them angry.
Currently, the Durand Line runs through northwest Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and Balochistan in Pakistan. It also crosses 10 provinces in Afghanistan.
There is often violence between the Taliban, the Afghan government, the Pakistani government, and foreign troops (including Americans) in the region. There are almost always suicide bombings, airstrikes, or street fighting along the Durand Line.
