Afghanistan–Pakistan border
A one-page agreement of 1893 between British India and Afghanistan’s emir, which split the Pashtun lands in two. Pakistan inherited it in 1947; no Afghan government since has accepted it as a border.
Written from cited sourcesLast checked 26 September 2026Suggest a correction
See it on the globe:Afghanistan →Pakistan →
Between two empires
In the 19th century Afghanistan was caught in the Great Game between Russia and Britain. Britain invaded in 1839 and was defeated in the First Anglo-Afghan War.[1] After taking Punjab in 1849 it inherited an ill-defined frontier west of the Indus, a belt of land between British India and Afghanistan where Pashtun communities lived.[1]
After the Second Anglo-Afghan War, which began in 1878, Britain installed Abdur Rahman Khan as emir. He reaffirmed the Treaty of Gandamak, which gave Britain control of Afghanistan’s foreign policy.[1]
A one-page agreement
In 1893 Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, foreign secretary of the government of India, negotiated with Abdur Rahman to mark out their spheres of influence. The agreement was one page long, and the line itself was fixed by a joint Afghan-British survey in 1894–96.[1] It divided the Pashtun areas in two, gave Balochistan to British India, and set up the Wakhan Corridor as a buffer between the Russian and British empires.[1]
After the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, the Treaty of Rawalpindi gave Afghanistan back control of its foreign policy and reaffirmed the Durand Line as its border with the British Empire.[1] The line runs from the Karakoram in the east, through the Spin Ghar range with the Khyber Pass, to the low Registan Desert in the west.[1]
Pakistan inherits it
When British India was partitioned in 1947, Pakistan inherited the Durand agreement. Afghanistan declared the border and the agreements void because the British had imposed them, and it was the only UN member to vote against Pakistan joining the United Nations that year.[1] A movement for an independent Pashtunistan grew on both sides of the line.[1]
In the 1980s, fighters recruited on the Pakistani side joined the war against the Soviet forces in Afghanistan.[1] Whoever has governed in Kabul since, the Afghan position has not changed: the line is void, and Afghanistan seeks the return of the Pashtun lands and of Balochistan, which would give it a coast on the Arabian Sea.[1]
A fence, and fighting
Pakistan began fencing the line in 2017, which led to more hostility.[1] Fighting across it in October 2025 ended in a ceasefire that later collapsed.[2]
In February 2026 Pakistani airstrikes on camps of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which Pakistan accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities of backing, were followed by Afghan attacks at the border on 26 February and a Pakistani offensive against Kabul, Kandahar and other places the next day. The Taliban authorities deny supporting the TTP. By 24 March UN experts counted at least 76 civilians killed in Afghanistan and more than 115,000 displaced, with the borders closed and trade suspended.[2]
Timeline
1839
First Anglo-Afghan War
Britain invades Afghanistan and is defeated.[1]
1878
Second Anglo-Afghan War
Britain installs Abdur Rahman Khan as emir.[1]
1893
Durand Line Agreement
Durand and Abdur Rahman agree the frontier.[1]
1919
Treaty of Rawalpindi
Afghanistan regains its foreign policy; the line is reaffirmed.[1]
1947
Pakistan inherits the line
Afghanistan calls it void and votes against Pakistan’s UN membership.[1]
2017
The fence
Pakistan starts fencing the border.[1]
202626 February 2026
Fighting resumes
Afghan forces attack at the border after Pakistani airstrikes, and Pakistan strikes Kabul and Kandahar.[2]
More borders
Pakistan
Sources
- [1]Durand Line · Encyclopaedia Britannica (Sanat Pai Raikar)
- [2]Afghan–Pakistani border: UN experts urgently call for lasting peace · UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights · 24 March 2026
Map geometry from Natural Earth via world-atlas. See credits.