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AFGHANISTAN: ‘Mines Help Pakistani Claims on Disputed Border’

Analysis by Sediqullah Bader - The Killid Group*

KABUL, Feb 28 2007 (IPS) - Afghanistan’s long and rugged frontier with Pakistan is being mined and fenced by Islamabad in response to mounting criticism from Kabul and its Western allies that Islamabad is not doing enough to stop the resurgent Taliban and al-Qaeda from crossing the porous border.

Although Pakistan’s professed reason for mining and fencing the border is to stop Taliban infiltration into Afghanistan and help NATO and coalition troops gain greater strategic advantage over the mujahiddin fighters, its strategy is driven by hopes of attaining its own narrowly perceived national interests -legitimising and securing its north-western frontier with Afghanistan.

Resolving the border dispute is highly significant for Pakistan as it feels threatened by India on one side and a belligerent, allegedly pro-India Afghanistan on the other.

The Pakistan-Afghan dispute over the Durand Line dates back to the time of Pakistan’s creation in 1947. Successive Afghan governments refused to recognise the line and tensions, at least on one occasion, almost drove the two neighbours to an all out war.

Because of the prevailing circumstances in Afghanistan and Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Islamabad is in a good position to exploit the situation for its own ends and advance its national interests in a region where historically it has had little control or influence.

Initially Afghans viewed Pakistan’s suggestions of mining and fencing the disputed border region as a convenient way for Pakistan not to address the real issue and evade its responsibility of going after Taliban leadership reportedly headquartered in Quetta, Baluchistan.

Afghans said that maintaining that border fencing and mining was impractical and that if Pakistan wanted, Taliban could continue to cross it. Instead they demand that the Taliban leadership in Pakistan be captured and their sanctuaries destroyed.

Despite strong objections from the Afghan government and Pashtuns on both sides of the line, followed by voicing of similar concerns by some Western countries, the work on fencing and mining the border areas separating the two countries continues.

Paktika province Governor Akram Khpalwak claimed on Jan. 7 that Pakistan has begun to fence and mine its disputed south-eastern border with Afghanistan.

Canada, for example, objected to the mining of the border areas on the grounds that it violates the 1997 Ottawa Treaty banning antipersonnel landmines. During a visit to Islamabad in early January, Canadian Foreign Minister Gordon MacKay offered “better” alternatives to selectively mining the border, which Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf agreed to examine.

The Afghan government on the other hand avoided addressing the real issue of concern and instead issued an emotional appeal. The government of President Hamid Karzai objected to the mining of the border areas on humanitarian grounds, saying such a move will permanently separate the closely linked Pashtun communities and disrupt their lives.

The Pashtun tribes straddling the disputed border have refused to recognise it as an international boundary and frequently cross it without much regard for either Afghan or Pakistani claims of sovereignty over it.

The history of the Durand Line goes back to a treaty in May 1879 signed between a British major and an Afghan emir during the Second Anglo-Afghan war. The issue became thornier after British India was partitioned to form two countries – India and Pakistan. Afghanistan called for the right of self determination for ethnic Pashtuns on both sides of the frontier – a demand that came to be known as the ‘Pashtunistan’ policy.

Instead of opposing the Pakistani plans purely on humanitarian grounds, the government should have clearly articulated its position, mobilised public opinion at home and abroad and opposed the plan for political reasons, as common sense requires.

The fencing and mining of the border, if not opposed, will strengthen Pakistan’s position which has insisted, since its creation, that the Durand Line is a legitimate international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Pakistan’s real motive behind fencing the border is not to prevent Taliban and al-Qaeda from crossing it; the border is too long and porous to be effectively controlled. Pakistan is exploiting growing western concerns about Taliban infiltration into Afghanistan from its territory which is undermining NATO and coalition and Afghan efforts to stabilise southern and eastern Afghanistan.

Taliban insurgent activities last year sharply increased troop casualty figures.

Pakistan’s strategic objective of resolving the border question with Afghanistan and the West’s desire to protect its forces in Afghanistan have splendidly coincided.

By fencing the Durand Line, Pakistan for the first time since its creation more than half a century ago is in a position to clearly demarcate the disputed boundary and assert its authority over the border areas on its side of the line on which Afghans continue to have territorial claims.

In view of Pakistan’s strategic moves, the Afghan government must clarify its position by not only opposing the Pakistani plan on humanitarian grounds but more importantly say that Afghanistan does not recognise the Durand Line, and opposes its mining and fencing because such a move will legitimise it in the eyes of the world. (* Reporting contributed by The Killid Group)