The year 2022 saw an uptick in hostilities between Pakistan and Afghanistan, especially along the Durand Line, a recent report by the International Forum for Rights and Security (IFFRAS) said.
The Durand Line divides ethnic Pashtuns, as well as Baloch people and other ethnic groups, living on both sides of the border between the two states.
According to the IFFRAS report, the Pashtun community continued to lose innocent lives throughout 2022.
Two separate incidents took place in December, in which the border forces of Afghanistan and Pakistan clashed at a border crossing, leading to deaths and injuries on both sides.
Afghanistan, currently governed by the Taliban*, is unwilling to accept the Durand Line as the official border with Pakistan, claiming that the area where ethnic Pashtuns live — on the side of Pakistan — belongs to Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, since 2017, Islamabad has been building a border fence, which has been objected to by both the Taliban and the former government of Afghanistan.
* Under UN sanctions