# The Durand Line

> On 17 October 2026 Pakistani forces and the Afghan Taliban exchanged fire along their border, in a year of repeated clashes. This film explains the history of that border, the Durand Line: the Great Game between the British and Russian empires, the Anglo-Afghan wars, the 1893 agreement between Mortimer Durand and Emir Abdur Rahman Khan, the survey along mountain watersheds, the Pashtun and Baloch peoples it divided, Partition in 1947 and the Pashtunistan dispute, border closures, Pakistan's fence, and how each government sees the line today. Draw the line, follow the watershed, close the border and build the fence.

Interactive film: https://www.planetpast.com/stories/durand-line/  
Publisher: PlanetPast (https://www.planetpast.com/) · d => T('readPublished', l, { d: dateIn(d, l) }) 2026-10-19 · History, Society

## Prologue

### A line across the mountains
*A border in the news*

Where did this border come from?

On the seventeenth of October 2026, Pakistani troops and forces of Afghanistan's Taliban government exchanged fire for hours along their shared border, in the Kurram district of north-western Pakistan. Pakistani officials said fighters of the Pakistani Taliban, a separate group allied with Afghanistan's rulers, had tried to cross from Afghanistan. Kabul gave no immediate comment. The border they fought along runs for about two thousand six hundred kilometres. It is called the Durand Line. It was drawn by an empire more than a hundred and thirty years ago, and no Afghan government has formally accepted it since 1947.

- **2,800+**: militant attacks since January
- **3,000**: people killed, mostly in the north-west and Balochistan

- **1,100+**: civilians killed or injured by cross-border violence, UN mission count (Sept 2026)

![Britannica gives its length as about 1,600 miles; other sources range from 2,450 to 2,640 km. AI-generated still.](https://assets.planetpast.com/a/34/34a19983e2a1ade3.jpg)

Prologue · The news

#### Clashes on the border

AP, 17 October 2026: according to three Pakistani security officials, fighting lasted for hours in Kurram district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Pakistani state media said troops destroyed Taliban posts and killed an unspecified number of Pakistani Taliban militants trying to cross. There was no immediate comment from the Taliban government. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in September it had documented more than 1,100 civilian casualties from cross-border violence in Afghanistan this year.

This film tells the history of the line. Figures about the current fighting come from each side or from the UN and are attributed. How to use: pick a chapter or press ← →; drag to rotate.

The map is schematic: the line is drawn through approximate points, and the terrain is illustrative.

Sources: [AP via News4Jax: Pakistani forces, Afghan Taliban exchange fire after militants attempt to infiltrate Pakistan (17 Oct 2026)](https://www.news4jax.com/news/world/2026/10/17/pakistani-forces-afghan-taliban-exchange-fire-after-militants-attempt-to-infiltrate-pakistan/); [Morning Star: World in brief, 18 October 2026](https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/world-brief-october-18-2026); [Encyclopaedia Britannica: Durand Line](https://www.britannica.com/event/Durand-Line)

## Chapter I · The Great Game

### Between two empires
*Chapter I · The Great Game*

Russia from the north, Britain from the south.

To understand the line, go back to the nineteenth century. The Russian Empire was pushing south across Central Asia. The British ruled India and wanted to keep Russia far from it. Their rivalry for influence, fought with spies, diplomats and sometimes armies, but never as a direct war between the two, became known as the Great Game. Afghanistan sat in the gap between them, a mountain kingdom that each empire wanted on its side, or at least on no one else's.

![Historians often date the Great Game from 1830, when Britain sought a trade route to Bukhara. AI-generated still.](https://assets.planetpast.com/a/6c/6c4aeb29495247ca.jpg)

- 1830: traditional start
- 1839–42: First Anglo-Afghan War
- 1878–80: Second Anglo-Afghan War
- 1895: Pamir agreement, Afghanistan a buffer
- 1907: Anglo-Russian Convention

- Russian Empire: expanding south through Central Asia
- British India: guarding its north-west
- Afghanistan, Persia, Tibet: where influence was contested

Chapter I · The Great Game

#### The Great Game

A 19th-century rivalry between the British and Russian empires for influence in Central Asia, mainly Afghanistan, Persia and Tibet. It involved military interventions and diplomacy but never a direct full-scale war between the two powers. It is traditionally dated from 1830 and ended with the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907.

The arrows in the scene are schematic, not historical frontiers.

Sources: [Wikipedia: The Great Game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Game)

### Wars over Kabul
*Chapter I · The Great Game*

Britain invades twice.

Britain invaded Afghanistan twice. In the first Anglo-Afghan War, from 1839, it put its own candidate on the throne in Kabul. Afghan revolts forced a British retreat in 1842 that ended in disaster. In 1878, after a Russian mission reached Kabul, Britain invaded again. The Treaty of Gandamak in 1879 left Afghans to run their own country, but gave Britain control of Afghanistan's foreign affairs: its dealings with every other country. Afghanistan also gave up several frontier districts in the south, such as Pishin and Sibi, lands that today lie inside Pakistan.

![Armies, traders and envoys all moved through a handful of mountain passes between Kabul and the Indus plain. AI-generated still.](https://assets.planetpast.com/a/58/58f25f097b255efb.jpg)

- Afghanistan keeps its internal rule
- Britain conducts its foreign affairs
- southern districts ceded: Pishin, Sibi, Harnai, Thal Chotiali

- **foreign affairs**: run from British India
- **4 districts**: ceded in the south

Chapter I · The Great Game

#### The Anglo-Afghan wars

First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842): Britain invaded to depose Dost Mohammad Khan and install Shah Shuja; Afghan revolts led to the 1842 withdrawal from Kabul, a major British defeat. Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1880): after an uninvited Russian mission to Kabul, Britain invaded. The Treaty of Gandamak (1879) gave Britain control of Afghan foreign affairs and ceded Pishin, Sibi, Harnai and Thal Chotiali.

Sources: [Wikipedia: The Great Game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Game)

## Chapter II · Drawing the line

### Two signatures
*Chapter II · Drawing the line*

A line on a map, agreed in Kabul.

On the twelfth of November 1893, in Kabul, the British diplomat Sir Mortimer Durand and Afghanistan's ruler, Emir Abdur Rahman Khan, signed an agreement. It fixed where each side's sphere of influence ended: Afghanistan on one side, British India on the other. Whether that made it a full international border is exactly what the two sides would later dispute. It ran from the high mountains in the north-east to the deserts where Afghanistan meets Persia. Two years later, Britain and Russia also agreed Afghanistan's northern edge, adding a thin strip of land, the Wakhan Corridor, so that the two empires would never touch. The line on the map took Durand's name.

![Britannica: Durand persuaded the emir to accept the line as an international boundary. AI-generated still.](https://assets.planetpast.com/a/dc/dc628d3ccc64edc8.jpg)

- sphere of influence: where a power has the say, without formally owning it
- international border: the agreed edge of a sovereign state

- **1895**: Pamir agreement, 10 September
- **a buffer**: between Russian and British territory

Chapter II · Drawing the line

#### The Durand Line Agreement

On 12 November 1893 Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, a British diplomat of the Indian Civil Service, and Emir Abdur Rahman Khan signed an agreement fixing the limit of their respective spheres of influence. Britannica: Durand persuaded the emir to accept it as an international boundary. The Pamir protocols of 10 September 1895 set Afghanistan’s northern border with the Russian Empire and created the Wakhan Corridor.

The line in the scene is drawn through approximate points.

Sources: [Encyclopaedia Britannica: Durand Line](https://www.britannica.com/event/Durand-Line); [Wikipedia: Durand Line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durand_Line); [Wikipedia: The Great Game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Game)

### Marking the mountains
*Chapter II · Drawing the line*

Where the rain divides.

A line on a map is not yet a border on the ground. From 1894 to 1896, joint British and Afghan teams surveyed about thirteen hundred kilometres of it. Across the high mountains they often followed the watershed, the crest of a ridge where rain divides: water on one side flows one way, water on the other side flows the other. Some sections took far longer: the Khyber stretch was only settled by a treaty in 1921.

![The section from the Kabul River to China was declared demarcated in 1896, along a watershed ridge-line. AI-generated still.](https://assets.planetpast.com/a/10/10658caa8e2e765c.jpg)

- the line runs along the highest crest
- rain west of it drains to one valley system
- rain east of it drains to another

- 1894–96: joint survey, about 1,300 km
- 1896: Kabul River to China section declared demarcated
- 22 Nov 1921: treaty settles the Khyber section
- 1933–34: small adjustment at Arundu

Chapter II · Drawing the line

#### Demarcation

A joint survey from 1894 to 1896 covered about 1,300 km. The section from the Kabul River to China was declared demarcated in 1896 on the basis of a watershed ridge-line. A treaty of 22 November 1921 finalised the Khyber section; a minor adjustment was made at Arundu in 1933–34.

The ridge in the scene is a schematic model of a watershed, not a real mountain.

Sources: [Wikipedia: Durand Line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durand_Line)

### Across the valleys
*Chapter II · Drawing the line*

Families on both sides.

The mountains were not empty. The line cut across the lands of the Pashtuns, a people united by the Pashto language and the largest group in Afghanistan, and in the south across the Baloch. Tribes, clans and families found themselves on both sides. For many, the mountain passes were simply the way to markets, pastures and relatives. That division is the root of the dispute that came later.

![Britannica: Pashtuns live mainly between the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan and the northern Indus River in Pakistan. AI-generated still.](https://assets.planetpast.com/a/bb/bb8d48a690468331.jpg)

- Pashtuns: Pashto speakers, north and centre of the line
- Baloch: in the south, toward Iran
- the 1893 agreement said nothing about asking them

- **Pashto**: a shared language (Britannica)
- **largest**: ethnic group in Afghanistan

Chapter II · Drawing the line

#### Peoples divided

The line divides the Pashtun and Baloch peoples. Britannica: the Pashtuns are united by a common language, Pashto, and are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan; they live primarily between the Hindu Kush and the northern Indus.

The shaded area in the scene is a rough illustration of where Pashtuns live, not a census map. The third point in the list is our summary: the agreement was made between the two governments.

Sources: [Wikipedia: Durand Line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durand_Line); [Encyclopaedia Britannica: Pashtun](https://www.Britannica.Com/topic/Pashtun)

### Afghanistan’s own foreign policy
*Chapter II · Drawing the line*

Independence, and the line confirmed.

In 1919 a new Afghan ruler, Amanullah Khan, rejected the Gandamak treaty and declared full independence. A short war with British India followed. The Treaty of Rawalpindi, in August 1919, recognised Afghan independence and Afghanistan's right to its own foreign affairs. It also reaffirmed the Durand Line as the frontier. Afghan rulers confirmed the frontier again in later treaties, in 1921 and 1930. For the moment, everyone kept to the line.

- Feb: Amanullah becomes emir, declares independence
- 3 May: Afghan forces enter British India
- 3 Jun: ceasefire
- 8 Aug: Treaty of Rawalpindi

> … reaffirmed as the political boundary separating Afghanistan from the North West Frontier. (National Army Museum, London, on the Durand Line in the 1919 treaty)

- **1919**: Rawalpindi
- **1921**: Anglo-Afghan treaty
- **1930**: later treaty

Chapter II · Drawing the line

#### The Third Anglo-Afghan War

National Army Museum: Amanullah became amir in February 1919, repudiated the Treaty of Gandamak and declared independence; Afghan detachments entered British India on 3 May; he ordered a ceasefire on 3 June. The Treaty of Rawalpindi (8 August 1919) recognised full Afghan independence and the right to conduct its own foreign affairs, and reaffirmed the Durand Line. Afghan rulers reaffirmed the frontier in treaties of 1921 and 1930 (Wikipedia).

Sources: [National Army Museum (UK): The Third Afghan War and the revolt in Waziristan](https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/third-afghan-war-and-revolt-waziristan); [Wikipedia: Durand Line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durand_Line)

## Chapter III · 1947

### A new country inherits the line
*Chapter III · 1947*

And a new question is asked.

In August 1947 British India was partitioned into India and Pakistan. The lands east of the Durand Line became part of Pakistan, and Pakistan inherited the line as its western border. Some Pashtun leaders had called for an independent Pashtunistan instead. Kabul backed the idea, and that year Afghanistan was the only country to vote against Pakistan joining the United Nations. In 1949 a grand assembly in Kabul, a loya jirga, declared that it recognised neither the Durand Line nor any similar line, and called the earlier agreements void.

- **2**: new states: India and Pakistan
- **21 June 1947**: Bannu resolution calls for an independent Pashtunistan

> Afghanistan has never recognized the Durand Line between the two countries as an international border. (Barnett Rubin, scholar of Afghanistan, to RFE/RL, 2006)

![26 July 1949: the assembly called the earlier agreements void. The UN never acted on it. AI-generated still.](https://assets.planetpast.com/a/a0/a0e156390501bda9.jpg)

Chapter III · 1947

#### Two positions

Pakistan inherited the line in 1947 and holds that, under the international-law principle that new states keep their borders at independence (uti possidetis, see next step), no new agreement is needed. The UK stated in 1950 that the Durand Line is the international frontier and Pakistan its inheritor. Afghanistan voted against Pakistan’s UN admission in 1947, citing Pashtun self-determination; on 26 July 1949 a loya jirga declared it recognised “neither the imaginary Durand nor any similar line”. No Afghan government has formally recognised the line since 1947.

Pashtunistan means different things to different people: for many Pashtuns a divided homeland; for Islamabad, a claim on parts of its territory (RFE/RL).

Sources: [Wikipedia: Durand Line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durand_Line); [RFE/RL: ‘Pashtunistan’ issues linger behind Afghan–Pakistani row (24 Mar 2006)](https://rferl.org/a/1067048.html); [Wikipedia: Pashtun question (Pashtunistan)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashtun_question)

### Inheriting a border
*Chapter III · 1947*

One principle, two readings.

So who keeps which border when an empire leaves? International lawyers point to a principle called uti possidetis: a new state keeps the frontiers it had on the day of its independence. The International Court of Justice, the United Nations' top court, calls it a general principle, meant to stop new states being torn apart by fights over their frontiers. Pakistan relies on this principle, and points out that most Pashtuns east of the line chose Pakistan in 1947. Afghan governments answer that the only choice offered then was India or Pakistan. Press the two buttons to compare their maps.

- Latin for roughly “as you possess”
- first used as Spain’s American colonies became independent
- African states pledged to follow it in 1964

> … to prevent the independence and stability of new States being endangered by fratricidal struggles … (International Court of Justice, Burkina Faso/Mali, 1986, on uti possidetis)

- UK, 1950: the line is the international frontier
- Afghan governments: Pashtun self-determination; 1949 jirga called the agreements void

Chapter III · 1947

#### Uti possidetis

ICJ, Frontier Dispute (Burkina Faso/Mali), 1986: uti possidetis, first invoked in Spanish America, is a general principle tied to the attainment of independence, aimed at preventing the independence and stability of new states being endangered by fratricidal struggles over frontiers. The OAU’s Cairo resolution of July 1964 pledged member states to respect the frontiers existing on independence. Pakistan holds that this principle makes a separate agreement unnecessary (Wikipedia).

The ICJ case concerned an African border, not this one; it is cited only for what the principle says.

Sources: [International Court of Justice: Frontier Dispute (Burkina Faso/Mali), judgment of 22 December 1986 (PDF)](https://api.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/69/6449.pdf); [Wikipedia: Durand Line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durand_Line); [RFE/RL: ‘Pashtunistan’ issues linger behind Afghan–Pakistani row (24 Mar 2006)](https://rferl.org/a/1067048.html); [Wikipedia: Pashtun question (Pashtunistan)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashtun_question)

## Chapter IV · Open and shut

### Trucks at the gate
*Chapter IV · Open and shut*

A landlocked country and its routes to the sea.

Afghanistan has no coast. Much of its trade to the sea has to pass through Pakistan, through crossings such as Torkham, near the Khyber Pass, and Chaman in the south. When the dispute flared, the gates closed. In 1955 Pakistan shut the border for about five months. In September 1961 the two countries broke off relations, just as Afghan grapes and pomegranates were due to be exported. Trade fell sharply. In 1963 Afghanistan's prime minister, Mohammad Daoud Khan, the champion of the Pashtunistan cause, resigned, and with help from the Shah of Iran the border reopened. Press Open to let the traffic through.

- **0 km**: of coastline
- **2**: main crossings to Pakistan: Torkham and Chaman

![In 1961 the Soviet Union offered to buy the fruit and airlift it out; Afghan planes flew crops to India in 1961 and 1962. AI-generated still.](https://assets.planetpast.com/a/87/87483b06827b0d33.jpg)

- customs revenue fell sharply
- foreign-exchange reserves badly depleted
- Afghanistan leaned on Soviet transit routes and aid

Chapter IV · Open and shut

#### Closures, 1955 and 1961–63

Library of Congress country study: in 1955 Pakistan closed the border for about five months (Wikipedia: after protesters attacked Pakistan’s embassy and consulates in Afghanistan in March 1955, in a row over Pakistan’s merger of its western provinces). On 6 September 1961 Afghanistan and Pakistan broke diplomatic relations, halting cross-border traffic as grape and pomegranate exports were due; the USSR offered to airlift the fruit. Customs revenues and trade fell sharply. In March 1963 King Zahir Shah asked Daoud to resign, citing the economic damage of his Pashtunistan policy. The border reopened in 1963, largely through the mediation of the Shah of Iran (Wikipedia).

Traffic in the scene is illustrative.

Sources: [Library of Congress Country Studies, Afghanistan: Daoud as prime minister, 1953–63](https://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/26.htm); [Wikipedia: 1963 in Afghanistan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963_in_Afghanistan); [Wikipedia: History of Afghanistan–Pakistan relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Afghanistan%E2%80%93Pakistan_relations)

### Building a barrier
*Chapter IV · Open and shut*

Steel along the mountains.

For most of its history the line was lightly marked and easy to cross. In 2017 Pakistan began building a fence along it, saying it was needed to stop militants. The line is marked by two hundred and thirty-five crossing points. By April 2023, Pakistani officials reported, ninety-eight percent of the fence was complete. Critics, including a former Pakistani diplomat writing in Arab News, say it has split families and cut local trade and visits across the line.

- **235**: crossing points marked along the line
- **$532 million +**: estimated cost (2019)

- Jan 2019: 900 km
- Apr 2023 (98%): ≈ 2,550 km

![An Arab News opinion piece put the fence’s cost at more than $1 billion, higher than the official estimate. AI-generated still.](https://assets.planetpast.com/a/cd/cd53400f322c5b81.jpg)

Chapter IV · Open and shut

#### The fence

Pakistan began building a fence and barrier in 2017. By January 2019, 900 km were complete; the project was estimated to cost at least $532 million and the line had 235 crossing points. In January 2022 the interior minister said 20 km remained; by April 2023, 98% of the fencing was reported complete (Wikipedia, citing Pakistani officials).

The Arab News piece (2023) is an opinion column by a former Pakistani diplomat and is cited only for its view of the fence’s effects. In the bars, 98% of about 2,600 km is drawn as ≈ 2,550 km.

Sources: [Wikipedia: Durand Line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durand_Line); [Arab News: The Durand Line, a British legacy that fuels new tensions (opinion, 7 Jul 2023)](https://www.arabnews.pk/node/2333766)

## Chapter V · Today

### The line today
*Chapter V · Today*

Each side’s account, in its own terms.

When the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021, Pakistan's leaders at first welcomed it. Instead of calm, the border became more violent. Pakistan blames most attacks on its soil on the Pakistani Taliban, the T T P, a separate group allied with the Afghan Taliban, and says its leaders shelter in Afghanistan. Kabul denies this. After deadly clashes in October 2025 and a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey, fighting returned. In February 2026 Pakistan declared what it called open war, and talks since have not produced a lasting peace.

- Pakistan: TTP fighters operate from Afghanistan; strikes target militant camps
- Afghan Taliban: denies sheltering the TTP; accuses Pakistan of harbouring ISIS-K, the regional branch of the Islamic State group, which Pakistan denies

- Oct 2025: deadliest clashes since 2021; Qatar–Turkey ceasefire
- 27 Feb 2026: Pakistan declares “open war”
- Mar 2026: three-day Eid ceasefire; clashes resume
- 2026: China-mediated talks, no formal agreement
- 17 Oct 2026: exchange of fire in Kurram

![CFR: in October 2026 Pakistan declared a state of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province along much of the line. AI-generated still.](https://assets.planetpast.com/a/36/36af80d15aaac687.jpg)

Chapter V · Today

#### The line today

Council on Foreign Relations tracker: Pakistan struck targets in Afghanistan in October 2025 in the deadliest clash since 2021; Qatar and Turkey brokered a temporary ceasefire. After attacks in Islamabad and Bajaur in February 2026, Pakistan struck camps in Nangarhar and Paktika, fighting spread, and on 27 February Pakistan declared “open war”. A three-day Eid ceasefire in March did not hold; China-mediated talks produced no formal agreement. Pakistan says TTP fighters operate from Afghanistan; the Taliban denies sheltering them.

Casualty figures in this conflict are disputed; this film cites only figures attributed to the UN mission or to a named side.

Sources: [Council on Foreign Relations, Global Conflict Tracker: Conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan (updated Oct 2026)](https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/war-afghanistan); [AP via News4Jax: Pakistani forces, Afghan Taliban exchange fire after militants attempt to infiltrate Pakistan (17 Oct 2026)](https://www.news4jax.com/news/world/2026/10/17/pakistani-forces-afghan-taliban-exchange-fire-after-militants-attempt-to-infiltrate-pakistan/); [Arab News: The Durand Line, a British legacy that fuels new tensions (opinion, 7 Jul 2023)](https://www.arabnews.pk/node/2333766)

## Epilogue

### A line with two meanings
*Epilogue*

A frontier for one, a wound for the other.

So the Durand Line began as a deal between an empire and an emir. Most of the world treats it as Pakistan's border; no Afghan government has formally accepted it. The Pashtun families it divided still live on both sides, now with a fence between them. Today's fighting has its own causes, from militant groups to politics in both capitals. But it is fought along a line whose meaning the two neighbours have never agreed on.

- 1879: Gandamak: Britain controls Afghan foreign affairs
- 1893: Durand Line Agreement
- 1919: independence; line reaffirmed
- 1947: Pakistan inherits the line
- 1949: Kabul’s loya jirga rejects it
- 1961–63: relations broken, border shut
- 2017: Pakistan starts the fence

![The line runs through Pashtun and Baloch lands from the Pamirs to the Iranian border. AI-generated still.](https://assets.planetpast.com/a/bb/bb8d48a690468331.jpg)

> just a line (Mullah Yaqub Mujahid, Taliban defence minister, to ToloNews (as reported by Arab News, 2023))

Epilogue

#### Sources

Every date and figure in this film comes from the sources below. Claims about the current conflict are attributed to the side that makes them.

Stills are AI-generated illustrations, not photographs.

The map is schematic: the line is drawn through approximate points, and the terrain is illustrative.

Sources: [AP via News4Jax: Pakistani forces, Afghan Taliban exchange fire after militants attempt to infiltrate Pakistan (17 Oct 2026)](https://www.news4jax.com/news/world/2026/10/17/pakistani-forces-afghan-taliban-exchange-fire-after-militants-attempt-to-infiltrate-pakistan/); [Morning Star: World in brief, 18 October 2026](https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/world-brief-october-18-2026); [Council on Foreign Relations, Global Conflict Tracker: Conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan (updated Oct 2026)](https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/war-afghanistan); [Encyclopaedia Britannica: Durand Line](https://www.britannica.com/event/Durand-Line); [Wikipedia: Durand Line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durand_Line); [Wikipedia: The Great Game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Game); [National Army Museum (UK): The Third Afghan War and the revolt in Waziristan](https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/third-afghan-war-and-revolt-waziristan); [RFE/RL: ‘Pashtunistan’ issues linger behind Afghan–Pakistani row (24 Mar 2006)](https://rferl.org/a/1067048.html); [Wikipedia: Pashtun question (Pashtunistan)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashtun_question); [International Court of Justice: Frontier Dispute (Burkina Faso/Mali), judgment of 22 December 1986 (PDF)](https://api.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/69/6449.pdf); [Library of Congress Country Studies, Afghanistan: Daoud as prime minister, 1953–63](https://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/26.htm); [Wikipedia: 1963 in Afghanistan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963_in_Afghanistan); [Wikipedia: History of Afghanistan–Pakistan relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Afghanistan%E2%80%93Pakistan_relations); [Encyclopaedia Britannica: Pashtun](https://www.Britannica.Com/topic/Pashtun); [Arab News: The Durand Line, a British legacy that fuels new tensions (opinion, 7 Jul 2023)](https://www.arabnews.pk/node/2333766)