  | |
 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 221,432 (2015) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Khost Province,Paktika Province,Nangarhar,Kandahar,Helmand,Ghazni,Wardak,Kabul | |
| Languages | |
| Pashto,Balochi,Urdu,English | |
| Religion | |
| Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Overseas Pakistani |
Pakistanis in Afghanistan (Urdu:افغانستان میں پاکستانی) are mostlyrefugees,[1] but also include laborers,traders,businesspersons, and small number ofdiplomats. Those working in white-collar professions include doctors, engineers, teachers and journalists.[2] BecausePakistan andAfghanistan are neighbouring states with a loosely controlledborder, and a distributed population of ethnicPashtuns andBaloch people, there is constant flow of population between the two countries.
Dynasties, such as those of theDelhi Sultanate and theMughals, as well as nomad people from theIndian subcontinent (including modern-day Pakistan) have been invading and coming to Afghanistan for the past many centuries. Before the mid-19th century, Afghanistan and some regions of Pakistan were part of theDurrani Empire and ruled by a successive line ofPashtun kings who had their capitals in Afghan cities. In 1857, in his review ofJ.W. Kaye'sThe Afghan War,Friedrich Engels describes "Afghanistan" as:
[...] 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,Beluchistan,Cashmere, andSinde, and a considerable part of thePunjab [...] Its principal cities are Kabul, the capital,Ghuznee,Peshawer, and Kandahar.[3]
Thus, interaction and migration between the native people in this region was common. After theSecond Anglo-Afghan War, theDurand Line was established in the late 1800s for fixing the limits ofsphere of influence betweenMortimer Durand ofBritish India and AfghanAmirAbdur Rahman Khan. When Pakistan inherited this single-page agreement in 1947, which was basically to end political interference beyond thefrontier line between Afghanistan and what was then colonial British India,[4] it divided theindigenous ethnicPashtun andBaloch tribes.
During the 1980sSoviet war, a large number of Pakistan-backedMujahideen forces fought the Soviets and the Soviet-backedAfghan government.[citation needed] After the death of Massoud and the removal of the Taliban regime of Afghanistan in late 2001 byUS-led coalition forces, members of the Taliban regrouped and began a stronginsurgency campaign inside Afghanistan. The insurgents are members of Afghan-based and Afghan-led militant groups such as theAfghan Taliban (including theQuetta Shura chapter), theHaqqani network, oral-Qaida and others. The militant groups include a small number of Pakistanis and other Muslim foreigners among their ranks.[citation needed]
In January 2008,BBC reported that about 6,000 Pakistanis fromKhyber Pakhtunkhwa crossed into Afghanistan, which included women and children. While fighting in northwest-Pakistan between thePakistani Armed Forces and thePakistani Taliban may have been one reason,Sunni Shia sectarian strife was also suggested as a possible driver for their flight.[5] They were able to receive medical aid inKhost andPaktika provinces. By September 2008, their number had reached 20,000,[6] and about 70% of the refugees were Pakistanis while the rest wereAfghans who had settled in Pakistan during the last 20 or so years.[7] More Pakistani refugees went to Afghanistan after the2010 Pakistan floods. As of 2015, around 221,432 Pakistanis are found living in Afghanistan. Most of them are inKhost Province andPaktika Province.[1] There are also a small number of PakistaniBaloch migrants, mainly concentrated in the southern parts of Afghanistan likeNimruz.[8]
A large number of Pakistani refugees have returned from Afghanistan following the end ofOperation Zarb-e-Azb.[9]
Pakistani expatriates have been involved in the rebuilding and reconstruction of Afghanistan and have made contributions towards theAfghan economy. By 2006, there were about 60,000 Pakistanis working in Afghanistan;[10] the exact number was unclear because of the lack of government records. Pakistanis could be found working not just in the main cities such asKandahar, but also less-accessible provinces such asGhazni,Wardak, orHelmand. Many work in the construction sector, while others have foundwhite-collar jobs such 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 originate from the northwestKhyber Pakhtunkhwa province. As many as one-sixth cross the border on any given day.
In May 2011, several expatriate Pakistanis crossing the border atTorkham were routinely being harassed and bothered by intelligence agencies in Pakistan; some were asked repetitive questions as to why they were going to Afghanistan while others had their materials and laptops searched. The expatriates sent a complaint and brought the issue to the notice of the Pakistani ambassador in Kabul,Muhammad Sadiq.[11]
However, NATO and Afghan officials also blame Pakistan'sInter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy network for being involved in terrorist attacks. Pakistan and Afghanistan have an irregular and poorly marked border. This allows militants to frequently cross back and forth across the border unchecked and undetected. A few of the insurgents and militants in Afghan resistance groups were of Pakistani origin. They have been arrested in the last decade and are held in different prisons across the country. They are usually from regions along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, including theWaziristan region, the city ofQuetta and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, and engaged in attacks againstUS-ledNATO forces and theGovernment of Afghanistan.[12][13][14] NATO and Afghan officials also blame Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy network for being involved in some of the attacks. Besides the serious criminals, there are unknown number of Pakistani prisoners in Afghanistan who are held for visa violation or petty crimes.[15]
The principal cities of Afghanistan are Kabul, the capital,Ghuznee,Peshawer, and Kandahar.
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