Trouble Simmers in Disputed Frontier Lands

Wednesday, 16 November, 2005

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Azatullah Zawab

Pakistani troops’ advance into a disputed border area in recent months has caused anger among Afghans who see it as an unjustifiable encroachment on their country’s sovereign territory And with locals saying that Pakistanis are paying for new schools and roads, it looks like they plan to stay.

Many Afghans insist that the government in Kabul should do more to reassert its rights to the borderlands of the south-eastern Nangarhar province.

The official Pakistani explanation for any military presence in this remote mountainous region is tactical operations to pursue al-Qaida and Taleban forces.

But after first appearing around June, the soldiers quickly hunkered down, setting up observation posts and tent encampments.

The exact borderline has long been a bone of contention. The Durand Line – drawn by a British colonial officer and established in 1893 – was never mapped in detail and this section near Jalalabad was particularly unclear.

Pakistan would still regard this line as its north-western border and say that far from its troops overstepping the mark, it is the Afghans who have got it wrong by using faulty Soviet maps.

In reality, the Mohmand tribe who live on both sides of the border – in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province and Pakistan’s Mohmand Tribal Agency – have largely lived autonomously over the years, dispensing their own tribal justice.

Indeed, when the police chief of the Goshta district, Sayed Omer Pahlawan, was asked for proof that the areas now under the Pakistani control really were Afghan land, he could only point to the fact that the Afghan authorities had previously vaccinated children and provided petrol pumps until this year.

Pakistan’s recent attempts to assert control in the territory have angered many of the local Mohmand people, some of whom took up arms to fight the “invaders” in July.

The confrontation had a much wider resonance, igniting memories on both sides of the “Pashtunistan” issue which has been a bone of contention between Afghanistan and Pakistan since the latter was created in 1947. In July 2003, rioters attacked the Pakistani embassy in Kabul following news reports about the clashes. Both governments took steps to prevent tensions increasing further, establishing a tripartite commission with the United States to demarcate the border properly.

In the months since then, Afghan and Pakistani forces have continued to exchange sporadic gunfire. The scattered valley settlement of Gosari – which as the crow flies lies less than 40 kilometres from Jalalabad but because of the difficult terrain takes more than four hours to reach – has become one of the frontline zones, with military posts on opposite hills shooting at each other from time to time.

They are so close that even without binoculars, the Pakistani uniforms can be clearly made out at some of the eight visible encampments. Two tanks can be seen parked by a hillside.

On a nearby hilltop, Yadgar, a 20-year-old Afghan soldier, sits in a tattered tent. He complains that he lacks shoes, proper clothing, food and ammunition while the Pakistanis are well-equipped. But he says he is happy to be defending his country

Afghan soldiers warned reporters against travelling any further on IWPR’s most recent visit at the end of November. Indeed, when an IWPR contributor approached a Pakistani post back in August he was detained for several hours.

During that visit, venturing deeper in the mountains, Pakistani encampments were clearly visible in the hills around the settlement of Mazarai Cheena and there was a tank encampment above Koda Khil, both new developments this year.

At that time, despite the obvious Pakistani advances, Major Ayob, an officer in Afghanistan’s Goshta District Desert Corps boasted of his side’s successes, “We have destroyed many enemy artillery pieces. On our side, we have had just three injured.”

Other Afghan soldiers and local villagers say that there have been deaths and injuries on both sides.

Haji Jahanzeb, a tribal leader from the Koda Khil area, said the settlement was now all but controlled by Pakistan. But he said he had kept the Afghan national flag flying above his petrol pump, and a picture of President Hamed Karzai on display, defying all threats.

Locals throughout the disputed area say that Pakistan has been paying for infrastructure improvements in recent months, suggesting that they are planning on maintaining a presence.

In the Goshta district, headmaster Rohul Amin, who is a regional delegate to Afghanistan’s Constitutional Loya Jirga or national assembly, told IWPR that the Pakistanis had been spending large amounts on development, “They construct roads and schools, hospitals and dig wells. They also give wireless to the elders.”

In Atta Bazaar, near Mazarai Cheena where the Pakistanis have military encampments, there is a new power supply system and roads have been resurfaced – all paid for by the Pakistanis, say local Afghans.

One resident, who did not want to give his name, said that when some local leaders appeared reluctant to accept this aid, they were approached by Pakistanis who said, “it is not a sin to build schools, electricity systems and roads, so why don’t you let us do this in your regions?”

Despite such incentives, many of the people IWPR interviewed insisted that they want to remain under Afghan rule – and that they have been fighting with whatever aging weapons they have to hand.

Malik Mohammad Gul told the story of how representatives from his village, Mazarai Cheena, had approached the Nangarhar regional government to beg for support. “We fought against them [Pakistanis] for 20 days,” he said, referring to the clashes over the summer. “We flew Afghan flags on our hills, but instead of helping us, the authorities told us that it was a problem for the higher government authorities, and that they were unable to do anything.”

Nangarhar’s deputy governor Dr Mohammad Asef Qazi Zada denied to IWPR that Pakistan now controlled more land than before, although he conceded that there may have been incursions. He was not keen to discuss the issue further, saying that it was a “matter for central government”.

Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul did not respond to IWPR’s numerous requests for an interview.

One tribal leader in the Goshta district who did not want to be named was outraged at what he feels is cowardice on the part of President Karzai. The inaction is “a black stain on the hem of a Pashtun’s kamiz,” he said, referring to the shirt traditionally worn in the region.

“If central government continues to show such reluctance, then Nangarhar will soon be part of Pakistan.”

Ezatullah Zawab is the editor of Meena magazine in Jalalabad and has completed IWPR journalist training. Hafizullah Gardesh is an IWPR staff reporter.