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'''Pakistanis in Afghanistan''' include [[Afghanistan–Pakistan relations|diplomats]], [[trader]]s, [[businessperson]]s, workers, [[student exchange program|exchange students]], and [[tourism|tourists]]. It also includes Pakistani [[refugee]]s, members of militant groups, and small number of prisoners. Because [[Pakistan]] and [[Afghanistan]] are neighbouring states with a loosely-controlled [[Durand Line|border]], and a distributed population of ethnic [[Pashtun people|Pashtuns]] and [[Baloch people]], there is constant flow of population between the two countries.
'''Pakistanis in Afghanistan''' include [[Afghanistan–Pakistan relations|diplomats]], [[trader]]s, [[businessperson]]s, workers, [[student exchange program|exchange students]], and [[tourism|tourists]]. It also includes Pakistani [[refugee]]s, members of militant groups, and small number of prisoners. Because [[Pakistan]] and [[Afghanistan]] are neighbouring states with a loosely-controlled [[Durand Line|border]], and a distributed population of ethnic [[Pashtun people|Pashtuns]] and [[Baloch people]], there is constant flow of population between the two countries.


== History ==
==Workers==
{{See|History of Afghanistan}}
[[File:Durand Line Border Between Afghanistan And Pakistan.jpg|thumb|The [[red]] [[line]] between Afghanistan and Pakistan is called the [[Durand Line]]. Nearly all militant training centers are located in Pakistan's [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas]] (FATA), [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]] and [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]] (in blue).]]
[[Delhi Sultanate|Dynasties]], especially the [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]], and people from the [[Indian subcontinent]] (modern-day Pakistan and India) have been coming to Afghanistan for many centuries. Before the mid-19th century, Afghanistan and the entire present-day Pakistan were part of the [[Durrani Empire]] (Afghan Empire) and ruled by a successive line of [[List of monarchs of Afghanistan|Afghan kings]] with their capitals in [[Kandahar]] and [[Kabul]]. In 1857, in his review of [[John William Kaye|J.W. Kaye's]] ''The Afghan War'', [[Friedrich Engels]] describes "Afghanistan" as:{{quote|''[...] an extensive country of Asia [...] between Persia and the Indies, and in the other direction between the Hindu Kush and the Indian Ocean. It formerly included the Persian provinces of Khorassan and Kohistan, together with Herat, [[Balochistan|Beluchistan]], [[Kashmir|Cashmere]], and [[Sindh|Sinde]], and a considerable part of the [[Punjab region|Punjab]] [...] Its principal cities are Kabul, the capital, [[Ghazni|Ghuznee]], [[Peshwar|Peshawer]], and Kandahar.''<ref name="Engels">{{cite web |url=http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1857/afghanistan/index.htm |title=Afghanistan |accessdate=August 25, 2010 |author=[[Friedrich Engels]] |work=Andy Blunden |quote=The principal cities of Afghanistan are Kabul, the capital, [[Ghazni|Ghuznee]], [[Peshwar|Peshawer]], and Kandahar.|publisher=The New American Cyclopaedia, Vol. I |year=1857}}</ref>}} Thus, interaction and migration between the native people in this region was common. After the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]], the [[Durand Line]] was established in the late 1800s for fixing the limits of [[sphere of influence]] between [[Mortimer Durand]] of [[British Raj|British India]] and Afghan [[Emir|Amir]] [[Abdur Rahman Khan]]. When Pakistan inherited this single-page agreement in 1947, which was basically to end politicial interference beyond the [[frontier]] line between Afghanistan and what was then colonial British India<ref name="LoC-Smith">{{cite web |url=http://www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/pub/afghanistan.html |title=A Selection of Historical Maps of Afghanistan - The Durand Line|publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |location=United States |first=Cynthia |last=Smith |date=August 2004|accessdate=2011-02-11}}</ref>, it divided the [[List of indigenous peoples|indigenous]] ethnic [[Pashtun people|Pashtun]] and [[Baloch people|Baloch]] tribes. Most of the wars that Pakistan and Afghanistan have experianced since the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1947|1940s]] with their other neighbors ([[India]] and former [[Soviet Union|USSR]]) some how relate to this Durand Line border.

During the 1980s [[Soviet war in Afghanistan|Soviet war]], large number of Pakistan-based [[Mujahideen]] forces began crossing the [[Durand Line|Pak-Afghan]] border into Afghanistan to fight the Soviets and the Soviet-backed [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan|Afghan government]]. After the withdrawl of Soviet forces, the collapse of [[Mohammad Najibullah|Najibullah]]'s government and the end of [[civil war in Afghanistan|civil war]], the Pakistan-backed Taliban took over Afghanistan. Many among the Taliban were Pakistanis. [[Maulana]] [[Sami ul Haq]], chancellor of [[Darul Uloom Haqqania]] in [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]], Pakistan, is referred to as the "Father of the Taliban".<ref>{{FIL-Luge link
| url1 = http://www.jamestown.org/programs/gta/single/?tx_ttnews
| bracket1 = tt_news
| url2 = =4180&tx_ttnews
| bracket2 = backPid
| url3 = =26&cHash=2feb32fe98
| title = The Father of the Taliban: An Interview with Maulana Sami ul-Haq
| fil-lugelink = no
}}, Imtiaz Ali, Spotlight on Terror, [[The Jamestown Foundation]], Volume 4, Issue 2, May 23, 2007</ref> The Taliban were assisted by [[Pakistani Armed Forces]] in their war with [[Ahmad Shah Massoud]]'s [[Northern Alliance]] (United Front) in the late 1990s.

After the death of Massoud and the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 by the [[United States armed forces|US]]-led coalition forces, members of the Taliban who had fled to Pakistan during [[Operation Enduring Freedom]] regrouped and began a strong [[Taliban insurgency|insurgency]] campain inside Afghanistan. The insurgents include militants from the [[Quetta Shura]] Taliban, [[Inter-Services Intelligence|ISI]]-backed [[Haqqani network]] [[al-Qaida]], and others. While most are Afghans, many Pakistanis and foreigners from the [[Muslim world]] are also among them. At the same time, many Pakistanis got involved in the rebuilding of Afghanistan.

==Pakistani workers==
By 2006, there were about 60,000 Pakistanis working in Afghanistan;<ref name=USIP>{{cite web|url=http://www.usip.org/publications/resolving-pakistan-afghanistan-stalemate |title=Resolving the Pakistan- Afghanistan Stalemate |work=Barnett R. Rubin and Abubakar Siddique |date=October 2006 |publisher=[[United States Institute for Peace]] |accessdate=November 13, 2011}}</ref> the exact number was unclear because of the lack of government records. Pakistanis could be found working not just in the main cities such as [[Kandahar]], but also less-accessible provinces such as [[Ghazni]], [[Wardak]], or [[Helmand]]. Many work in the construction sector, while others have found jobs as information technology professionals for United Nations organisations and foreign companies in urban areas; they have an increasing demand due to their skills and mostly come from the northwest [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]] province. As many as one-sixth cross the border on any given day.
By 2006, there were about 60,000 Pakistanis working in Afghanistan;<ref name=USIP>{{cite web|url=http://www.usip.org/publications/resolving-pakistan-afghanistan-stalemate |title=Resolving the Pakistan- Afghanistan Stalemate |work=Barnett R. Rubin and Abubakar Siddique |date=October 2006 |publisher=[[United States Institute for Peace]] |accessdate=November 13, 2011}}</ref> the exact number was unclear because of the lack of government records. Pakistanis could be found working not just in the main cities such as [[Kandahar]], but also less-accessible provinces such as [[Ghazni]], [[Wardak]], or [[Helmand]]. Many work in the construction sector, while others have found jobs as information technology professionals for United Nations organisations and foreign companies in urban areas; they have an increasing demand due to their skills and mostly come from the northwest [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]] province. As many as one-sixth cross the border on any given day.



Revision as of 09:16, 14 November 2011

Pakistanis in Afghanistan
Regions with significant populations
Nangarhar, Kandahar, Helmand, Ghazni, Wardak, Kabul
Languages
Pashto, Urdu, English, Dari (Persian)
Religion
Islam
Related ethnic groups
Overseas Pakistani

Pakistanis in Afghanistan include diplomats, traders, businesspersons, workers, exchange students, and tourists. It also includes Pakistani refugees, members of militant groups, and small number of prisoners. Because Pakistan and Afghanistan are neighbouring states with a loosely-controlled border, and a distributed population of ethnic Pashtuns and Baloch people, there is constant flow of population between the two countries.

Workers

By 2006, there were about 60,000 Pakistanis working in Afghanistan;[1] the exact number was unclear because of the lack of government records. Pakistanis could be found working not just in the main cities such as Kandahar, but also less-accessible provinces such as Ghazni, Wardak, or Helmand. Many work in the construction sector, while others have found jobs as information technology professionals for United Nations organisations and foreign companies in urban areas; they have an increasing demand due to their skills and mostly come from the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. As many as one-sixth cross the border on any given day.

As a result of countless terrorist attacks occurring in Afghanistan by the ISI-backed Haqqani network and others, several white-collar expatriate Pakistanis crossing the border at Torkham were being asked irritating questions by local authorities. One was asked as to why he was going to Afghanistan while others had their materials and laptops searched. The expatriates sent a complaint and brought the issue to the notice of Pakistani Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq in Kabul.[2]

Pakistani refugees

In January 2008, BBC reported that about 6,000 Pakistanis from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa crossed into Afghanistan, which included women and children. While fighting in northwest-Pakistan between the Pakistani Armed Forces and the Pakistani Taliban may have been one reason, Sunni Shia sectarian strife was also suggested as a possible driver for their flight.[3] They were able to receive medical aid in Khost and Paktika provinces. By September 2008, their number had reached 20,000[4], and about 70% of the refugees were Pakistanis while the rest were Afghans who had settled in Pakistan during the last 20 or so years.[5] More Pakistani refugees went to Afghanistan after the 2010 Pakistan floods.[6][7][8]

Pakistani terrorists and prisoners

Pakistani insurgents or terrorists are active inside Afghanistan, some were arrested in the last decade and are held in different prisons across the country. They are usually from the Waziristan region, the city of Quetta and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, and engaged in suicide attacks against Indians in Afghanistan as well as US-led NATO forces and the Government of Afghanistan.[9][10][11] Others are involved in assassinations, ambushes, planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs), kidnappings, smuggling and other illegal activities. NATO and Afghan officials also blame Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy network being involved.

Notable Pakistanis buried in Afghanistan

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Resolving the Pakistan- Afghanistan Stalemate". Barnett R. Rubin and Abubakar Siddique. United States Institute for Peace. October 2006. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
  2. ^ Pakistanis working in Afghanistan being bothered by agencies, The News.
  3. ^ Leithead, Alastair (2008-01-07), "Pakistanis flee into Afghanistan", BBC News, retrieved 2009-04-28
  4. ^ Burns, John F. (September 29, 2008). "Pakistani Refugees Pour Into Afghanistan". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
  5. ^ "Pakistanis flee into Afghanistan", BBC News, 2008-09-29, retrieved 2009-04-28
  6. ^ Pakistani female beggars in Kabul. June 30, 2011.
  7. ^ Pakistani female beggar in Kabul. June 30, 2011.
  8. ^ living room for Pakistani beggars in Kabul. June 30, 2011.
  9. ^ Schifrin, Nick (June 21, 2011). "How the Taliban Turned a Child Into a Suicide Bomber". ABC News. Retrieved October 15, 2011.
  10. ^ "Bombing suspect says Pakistani mullahs brainwashed him". July 28, 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-23. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |pubisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Haqqani network threatens attacks on judges". June 15, 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-23. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |pubisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help)