Understandingwar: Pakistan and Afghanistan | Institute for the Study of War

Pakistan and Afghanistan share an immense border stretching 1510 miles (2430 km) along the southern and eastern edges of Afghanistan.1 The Afghan provinces of Badakhshan, Nurestan, Konar, Nangarhar, Paktiya, Khost, Paktika, Zabul, Kandahar, Helmand, and Nimruz are all adjacent to the Pakistani border. Ethnic Pashtuns populate the area along the border.

At least two major ethnic groups—the Pashtuns and the Baluchs—live on both sides of the Durand Line. Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, comprising 42 percent of the population or 13.8 million people.2 (Credible and up to date numbers about the demographics in Afghanistan are hard to find. The last national census was conducted in the 1970s.) On the Pakistan side, Pashtuns make up 15.4 percent of the population, roughly 26.6 million people.3

After Pakistan’s creation in 1947, Afghanistan objected to its admission to the United Nations. The Afghan government of the time decided not to recognize Pakistan as the legitimate inheritor of the territorial agreements reached with the British India...... - Pakistan and Afghanistan Institute for the Study of War