Afghan Border Research Articles

Pak Afghan Border Problems and its Inferences on Pushtoon Both Sides Residents

It is widely accepted that Pakistan is situated at a very important strategic location on world map. Russia, China and Central Asian countries in north, Middle east in south west and far east countries in east of Pakistan makes this country strategically very important among world nations. Because of its valuable strategic location, most importantly its sea connection to the central Asian states, China and Russia which connects trade, oil and gas routs to the rest of the world through warm waters increases the importance of the country at no-match level. As every big fortune brings a trouble, this strategic importance brings a lot of troubles for the country. After world war II, Soviet Union needed to access warm waters for its uninterrupted connectivity with the world through sea routs. For that Soviets need a good sea port, the options they had were limited. Either they would connect through Chabahar port, Iran or either they would touch Baluchistan region of Pakistan. Comparatively, they found Pakistan an easy target aimed their invasion to Afghanistan as their direct neighbor and Pakistan as a weak state and a sandwich between India and Russia through Afghanistan. Besides this scenario, since the foundation of Pakistan, mismanagement at Pakistan Afghanistan border has been a reason of conflicts. A well secure and managed border can bring stability in economic and security situation of the region. After Soviet invasion, federally administered tribal areas (FATA) became the heaven of militant groups and the symbol of resistance against Soviet forces. Since that time, cross border movement of militant groups is a huge security concern for both countries. Available data also suggests that Pakistan has suffered huge economic and security costs because of the mismanagement of its western border with Afghanistan. In order to maintain peace and stability in the region, Pakistan has proposed and started construction of fences and infrastructure in 2016 including gateways for trade and cross border activities of complex socio-economic tribal system on the both sides of Pak-Afghanistan border. These steps significantly reduced cross border terrorist activities.

Incidence of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Coastal Areas (Winder, Uthal And Lasbela) of Balochistan Pakistan

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a neglected protozoan disease caused by a phlebotomine sand fly that inserts a parasite into the host bloodstream by biting to expose the area of the body. These parasites cause lesion which is very painful and ulcerated. The disease is quite common like a fever in the province of Balochistan Pakistan due to the neighboring border of Afghanistan where the travelers and refugees migrate and transfer this disease into this area of Pakistan. The purpose of our study is to find out the cases and the intensity of disease in different areas of Balochistan. A study was conducted at the rural health centers in areas such as Winder, Uthal, and Lasbela in the province of Balochistan Pakistan. Where fifty patients from each area were diagnosed by sampling their lesions after taking their consent-on-consent form. From the above study, it was observed that the Cutaneous leishmaniasis was dominant in all three areas of Balochistan because its hot weather is likely to be suitable for the growth of parasite-holding sandflies. Most of the patients were male with multiple lesions and aged between 11-40 years who work in fields. No proper treatment is seriously available, desperately poor patients must face this infectious disease as their daily routine. The frequency of Cutaneous leishmaniasis is increasing to its full ultimate due to less awareness and being deprived of the proper treatment, and lack of preventive measures. To overwhelm the situation some emergency steps should be taken for this common neglected disease.

A New Hadrian’s Wall: Managing Pak Afghan Border Security, Diplomatic and Economic Dimensions

A New Hadrian’s Wall: Managing Pak Afghan Border Security, Diplomatic and Economic Dimensions

SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR positivity in relation to clinical and demographic characteristics in residents of border quarantine centres, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan: a prospective cohort study.

BackgroundAs international travellers were the primary source of sever acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, border checkpoints became an important tool to isolate cases. We determined the period prevalence and SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction positivity in relation to clinical and demographic characteristics in healthy travellers quarantined at the Pakistan–Afghanistan border.MethodsThe study was conducted from 15 to 25 April 2020. Period prevalence was calculated and the association between positivity and individuals’ age, sex and occupation were assessed using χ2 and Mantel–Haenszel tests. Logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for each age group. Time-to-event (TTE) analysis was conducted to check the difference in positivity among various groups.ResultsIn a total of 708 individuals, 71 tested positive (10%). Compared with those ≤20 y of age, the sex- and occupation-adjusted odds of testing positive were less among the older age group (41–60 y; OR 0.26, p=0.008). Taxi drivers had higher odds of testing positive (OR 4.08, p<0.001). Kaplan–Meier curves and hazard ratios (0.32, p<0.01) showed that the positivity period differed significantly across the pre-symptomatic vs asymptomatic group (26 vs 14 d).ConclusionsThe cases who were likely to acquire infection through occupational exposure largely remained asymptomatic. For effective control of transmission and the emergence of new variants, testing capacities should be revamped with effective isolation measures.

Seher Abdalın Kaleminden Bir Hz. Ali Velayetnamesi-Deşt-i Erzene

Long political conflicts, especially the Karbala tragedy, and the narrative-oriented belief system trying to hold on to new geographies have created a new cultural basin in the Islamic geography and heterodox lifestyles caused by social differences, mostly under the influence of the Imāmiyya cult, which fell relatively far from the institutionalized Islamic perspective on Ṣūfism, sects and creeds, revealed the “Ali cult”, which turned into a myth from time to time. The historical development, sociological interaction and the forms they transform of the frame stories that make up the more painful narrative in the cenk, miʿrāj and grief trilogy have revealed an important literature. In the narrative universe that constitutes this literature, literary genres such as velāyet-nāme/menākıb-nāme, gazavat-nāme, cenk-nāme, fütüvvet-nāme were formed around Ali. Velāyet-nāme-i Ali Kerrema’llāhu Vechehū Deşt-i Erzene, which is the subject of the study and written by Seher Abdal, is an important indicator of how similar subjects and motifs seen in Shiite oral and written culture and Buyruk have repercussions in the Anatolian geography. It contains content that will contribute to the literature around Ali. While the work reveals the miraculous story of Ali in the narrative universe, it first brings Salmān al-Fārisī and then the Prophet Muhammad to the stage with him. Seher Abdal tells the story of how Ali rescued Salmān al-Fārisī from a difficult situation in the language of Salmān al-Fārisī. In the continuation of the narrative, the miʿrāj event is conveyed from the language of the Prophet Muhammad. Velāyet-nāme was written by Seher Abdal, who lived in the second half of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century. Seher Abdal went to Yumgan, which is in the borders of Afghanistan, where his office is located, with the love he felt for Nāṣir-i Khusraw, one of the important names of the Ismāʿīlī tradition, and with the inspiration he received from there, he translated the work of Nāṣir-i Khusraw named Saʻādet-nāme into Turkish.

GEOGRAPHIC, HISTORIC, POLITICAL, RIPARIAN, AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS THAT LEAD TO PAKISTAN AS A LAND OF PENTA MESOPOTAMIA

The research aims to investigate Pakistan’s geographic, historic, political, riparian, and socio-economic factors that lead to Pakistan as a Land of Penta Mesopotamia. Pakistan is situated in South Asia along the coast of Arabian Sea, bordering Afghanistan in west, China in north, Iran in southwest, Arabian Sea in South and Hindustan (India) lies in the east. Historically, the land of Pakistan has been the host of Neolithic period’s South Asian multi Indus valley civilization (IVC) that includes Gandhara, Harappan, Mehrgarh, Mohenjo-Daro, Takht-i-Bahi and Texila civilizations that emerged during 3,300 BCE to 1300 BCE. Muslim Civilizations emerged from 712 to 1857 and British colonial culture also developed from 1857-1947 in this area. The Indus valley civilization flourished parallel to the Mesopotamian civilizations. Mesopotamian civilization includes the Assyrian and Babylonian Civilization that emerged in Iraq in between the two rivers of Euphrates and Tigris from 3,100 B.C. to 332 B.C. and is referred to the “Cradle of Civilizations”. Since Mesopotamian civilization attracted all the ancient civilizations in West Asia to nourish because of its friendly ecological environments, fertile land and rich alluvium soils. Pakistan’s geography also attracted the Indus valley civilizations that emerged in the confluence of seven perennial rivers i.e. Sutlej, Ravi, Chenab, Jhelum, Indus, Swat and Kabul rivers, credited as the “Cradle of South Asian Indus valley Civilizations”. Pakistan’s strategic location in the region, her favorable ecosystem for biodiversity, favorable multi seasons, fertile land, friendly ecological conditions, rich agricultural environment, rich alluvium soils, strategic multiple riparian potentials that originate from Himalayan, Karakorum, and Hindu-Kush mountain ranges, remained lucrative for South Asian Indus valley civilizations. Pakistan’s geography also remained very attractive to the sub regions of Asia i.e. Central, South and West Asia because it has provided and has been providing the Mesopotamians agrarian transit economy to landlocked countries of Afghanistan and Central Asian States from the shortest possible sea route of Arabian Sea and visa-vi to oil rich states of Middle East via China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Mesopotamian’s cultural, ecological, geographic, historic, riparian, socio-economic, socio-political equilibrium and similar factors are founded in the Indus valley civilizations that erect the sufficient evidence to prove that “Pakistan is a Land of Penta Mesopotamia”. Keywords: Civilizations, Confluence, Fertile land, Mesopotamia, Riparian potentials.

Phonology of Molla Yâr Muhammed Nemengâni and Tuhfetü-l Abidin

As a master degree graduate thesis, we selected the Tuhfetüʾl-ʾÂbidîn. It is a collection of the poems written by Molla Yur Muhammed Nemengânî who was born in the 19th century in Nemengân. There are many poems from different poets in the book which consisting of 188 pages, but 108 pages belongs to our poet Nemengânî and this study focused on these pages. in the poems, poet was known by his surname, Muhlis. The text was found in Hoyham village in Badakhshan province, which is located on the borders of Afghanistan. The texts of the book have been transcribed and translated into Latin alphabets. Considering language characteristics, writing characteristics, phonetic features and shape characteristics, the texts were studied.

Russian Colonialism in Central Asia: to Determine Time and Place

The article is a brief overview of Russian legislative practices in the Central Asian region. Kazakh, Turkestan and Transcaspian lands are considered as a single region, as it was understood by the Russian imperial administration. The administration models implemented in it had a different nature and their own specifics. In this case, the time factor was of paramount importance. Russia had not yet formulated its agenda in relation to its southeastern periphery at the beginning of the 18th century. At that time, St. Petersburg perceived the Kazakh steppe as the outer territory of the empire (colony) and consistently implemented methods of indirect and direct control towards it. The situation changed in the middle of the 19th century. The complication of the foreign policy situation in Europe provoked the intensification of Russia in Central Asia. Active advancement towards the Afghan border entailed the transformation of the Kazakh lands into the inner territory of the empire wanting administrative assimilation with the rest of the state. At the same time, a “non‑colonial” view of the empire’s national outskirts prevailed in the Russian capital. The trend towards the spread of general imperial administrative-political and socio-economic norms and approaches to Central Asian possessions has become the leitmotif of the state policy. The system of military-public administration became manifestation of this policy, introduced in the Kazakh steppe, Russian Turkestan and the Transcaspian province in the second half of the 19th century.

Digital black hole: Undeclared internet policy in Pakistan’s Pashtun periphery

Due to the State’s militarized policies in the war-torn Pashtun areas (ex-FATA) bordering Afghanistan, the Pakistan government’s undeclared internet policy in this region has become an obstacle in the way of both exercising the freedom of expression and the attainment of digital access as a basic human right. This is in line with the colonial legacy of keeping this area a buffer-zone, strategically rendering it an information black hole. But the criminalization of digital freedom has also triggered local protests for media-making rights. Based on interviews with ‘tribal’ students, and using critical discourse analysis in combination with Achille Mbembe’s concept of necropolitics, we examine how the Pakistani State denies the tribal students their digital rights resulting in the loss of their time and the consequences of this collective loss. We found that the local frustration could not be limited to the lack of internet. Entailing an element of passive defiance, the tribal students are deserting their ancestral land to reclaim their bodies from the goliath of the State, hampering its necro behemoth that is using them as a complicit body in a disabled space.

INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPOSITAE – 3

INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPOSITAE – 3

1008. ECHINOPS WAKHANICUS: Compositae

SummaryEchinops wakhanicus Rech.f. (Compositae: Cardueae: Echinopsinae) is described and illustrated, and its taxonomic position discussed. Field observations and seed collection of the species are mentioned. The genus Echinops is discussed, and comments made on its infrageneric classification, and the placement of E. wakhanicus in sect. Oligolepis. The terminology used in describing the flowering structure in the genus is discussed; the term synflorescence is preferred. Tribal and subtribal relationships are mentioned. Cultivation requirements are also outlined and, whilst certainly unavailable commercially, it is also unlikely to be found in botanical gardens, except in Tajikistan. Spanning the borders of Afghanistan and Tajikistan, the Conservation Status (of Endangered) in Tajikistan is not reflected in the species' wider distribution on the other side of the Panj River in Afghanistan, where it is considered of Least Concern. The variable spination at the apex of some of the synflorescences is commented on.

Border Management System: The Digitalization of Pak - Afghan Border

Border security has a direct impact on economic development, internal security, foreign relations particularly with neighbours and national sovereignty. Professionals, well-trained border officers and structured organizational mechanism ensure efficient border management preventing human and drug-trafficking, smuggling, terrorists’ infiltration and illicit arms trade. Authors have discussed the nature of complexity in border’s domain particularly Pak – Afghan border in this paper. It highlights how porous border increases intensity of terrorism in Pakistan particularly in tribal agencies. Further, efficient border management in the light of the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1373 is a necessity.&nbsp; Consequentially, this paper suggestive in nature proposes installation of new mechanism including camera towers, thermal imaging cameras, Kamikaze drones, mobile/ vehicle based platforms, radars, sensors, infrared cameras, Border Patrol and Small Tactical Units and Universal Registration Client (URC).

The Afghan Question in Russian Conservative Opinion Journalism in the Mid-1880s

In the first half of the reign of Alexander III (1881–1894), Russia took several important steps to strengthen its position in Central Asia. The annexation of the city of Merv, the Iolatan and Panjdekh oases in 1884–1885 led to territorial disputes with Afghanistan over the southern Turkmen lands and to a clash with an Afghan detachment on the Kushka River. The latter event nearly brought the political confrontation between St Petersburg and London over influence in the region to the brink of a full-scale military conflict. The peace settlement resulted in the work of a mixed British-Russian commission to determine the western part of the Russian-Afghan border, which culminated in the signing of an agreement in 1888. These events did not elude the attention of the Russian public. Leading national periodicals reported on the situation on the southern borders of the empire. In this article, the author attempts to characterise the views of influential Russian conservative authors of those years on Russian policy in Afghanistan in the mid-1880s and to analyse the extent to which their foreign policy proposals coincided with the actions of the Russian government. The study draws on the publications of the most influential representatives of the conservative press, as well as official press articles on events on the Russian-Afghan border, published during the period when the Russian-British confrontation in the region (1884–1886) was at its peak. The author concludes that, despite Alexander III&amp;apos;s sympathy for conservative views and those who expressed them, the government did not accept a single proposal from conservative publicists regarding Russian policy at the borders of Afghanistan.

Patriarch of Russian Diplomacy Yegor Yegorovich Staal (1822–1907)

One of the oldest Russian diplomats, Yegor Yegorovich Staal, spent a significant part of his career as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, the Empress of India. He made a significant contribution to the stabilization of Russian-English relations. It was a period of acute conflicts and crises in the international arena in the mid-80s – late 90s of the XIX century. No special studies on Staal have yet been published. The limited scope of the article does not allow us to present a complete picture of his activities in the diplomatic field. The author of the article saw her task in highlighting the main milestones of the diplomat&amp;apos;s life and views, professional techniques and methods that he used during the negotiations on the Afghan border in 1884–1885 and as the head of the Russian delegation at the First Peace Conference in 1899 in the Hague. The source base of the study was the publication of diplomatic documents unpublished reports of Staal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, materials of his personal archive preserved in the State Archive of the Russian Federation, as well as his letters deposited in the GA of the Russian Federation. The awards received by Staal in his native fatherland and those states where he represented the interests of Russia indicate a high appreciation of his fruitful works.

Миграционные риски афганского кризиса

The hasty withdrawal of US troops and their NATO allies from Afghanistan in August 2021 caused an acute, but local-scale migration crisis. During this crisis, about 200 thousand people were evacuated from the country by the air forces of the Western coalition. The difficult socio-political and economic situation inside Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power poses a threat of a much larger migration crisis. Analogies with the migration consequences of the civil war in Syria, which has been going on since 2011, make it possible to predict the appearance of 8–9.5 million Afghan refugees within a few years who will go to Iran, Pakistan and Central Asia in the event of an aggravation of the internal conflict and further deterioration of the socio-economic situation in Afghanistan. About 1 million of them may end up in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in case of a negative scenario. The appearance of large masses of refugees in Central Asian countries that do not have developed economies will lead to an acute humanitarian crisis. The existence of a visa-free regime between Russia and most of these states will eventually allow immigrants from Afghanistan to freely visit its territory. The penetration of members of radical Islamist organizations based in Afghanistan into the CIS countries is particularly dangerous. The most negative scenario is the spread of a zone of military instability on the territory of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan bordering Afghanistan, where about 50 million people live. The destabilization of these states threatens the emergence of mass forced emigration of their indigenous Muslim population to Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Russia. The negative consequences of these processes will be an increase in the burden on the budget, the education, health and social security systems, the aggravation of terrorist threats, the criminogenic situation and interethnic conflicts. In the long term, mass migration from Central Asia will lead to the transformation of the ethno-confessional structure of Russia, which, in the conditions of depopulation of its population due to the COVID&amp;#8209;19 epidemic, may become irreversible.

Cenozoic Dextral Shearing Along the Arusan Sector of the Great Kavir–Doruneh Fault System (Central Iran)

AbstractThe structural analysis of large intracontinental wrench faults is fundamental for deciphering the long‐term evolution of continental crust in complex areas in terms of their geodynamic evolution and large‐scale crustal block displacements. In this contribution, we demonstrate a pre‐Miocene dextral activity of the present‐day left‐lateral Great Kavir ‐ Doruneh Fault System (GKDFS, Central Iran), one of the major intracontinental active strike‐slip faults extending from the Afghan border to the Nain region between Central Iran and the Sanandaj‐Sirjan Zone. We document important dextral shearing recorded along a segment of the GKDFS, the Arusan Fault System (AFS), located east of Jandaq, close to the present‐day active trace of the GKDFS. The AFS include several ENE‐WSW striking strands exposed for a length of more than 50 km, which couple pre‐Cretaceous ophiolites and metamorphic basement units with the Cretaceous succession of the Khur basin. The fault shows transpressional structures consistent with a dextral shear including thrusts and en échelon folds affecting the Cretaceous carbonate units. Paleostress reconstruction based on mesoscopic fault analysis and related folds geometry allowed to establish vorticity parameters indicating that deformation occurred close to a total simple shear regime with a calculated Wk between 0.9 and 1. The enormous Meso‐Cenozoic dextral displacements occurred along the AFS and along the entire GKDFS are attested by the up to several hundreds of kilometers offset of the Paleotethys suture zone, from NE Iran to the western border of Central Iran.

On the formation of the state borders of Afghanistan in the late XVIII – XIX centuries

The subject of this research is the formation of state borders of Afghanistan throughout the period from the mid XVIII century to the late XIX century. A brief overview is given to this process during the existence of the Durrani Empire, while the main part of research is covers the events of the XIX century, since the reign of the Barakzai Dynasty. The article leans on the works of the experts in history of Afghanistan of the corresponding period, history foreign policy of Afghanistan and its individual aspects, as well as related documents. This topic has not previously become the subject of separate research, which defines the novelty of this publication. The main results are as follows: the author divides the history of formation of the borders of Afghanistan into two stages &amp;ndash; since 1747 to the mid XIX century, characterizes by the dynamic policy of Afghan rulers aimed at the expansion of their territories, including through military conquests; the second half of the XIX century, which determines the new borders of Afghanistan primarily by the external political actors and their activity. It is worth noting that the period from the late XVIII century and the entire XIX century marks the formation of state border of Afghanistan that remain to this day.

The fixer on the Pak-Afghan frontier: A de-skilled local labour in the global media

This study examines power misuse in global news production by focusing on the role of “fixer.” Fixer is a local journalist who reports for global media on conflict-riddled areas or crisis situations. By interviewing forty fixers in Pakistan’s war-hit Pashtun Belt along the Afghanistan border, I examine the challenges they face in working with the global media’s visiting journalists before the start of the war on terror. Using Marx’s concept of proletarianization which is a process in which capital transforms a great mass of society into daily wage workers, I reveal how the local journalist, who works as fixer, is not only de-professionalized, but his precarity, due to living in a war zone, also forces him to misuse his local news traditions in working for the global media. I argue that fixers are far more than just assistants to global media outlets. Not only are they all practicing journalists in their own right, but, as locals, they also are geographically better placed to use their experience than those journalists who are coming from outside the conflict zone. Yet, this subsidiary role automatically erases this distinction leading to the real fixers’ de-skilling with consequences for the entire region.

Investigating Spatial-Physical Consequences of Polygamy Phenomenon in Border Villages of Iran (Case Study: Hirmand County)

Purpose- The most common type of marriage in Iran is monogamy, however polygamy is sometimes happening. It seems that the situation of polygamy, as well as the causes and factors involved in it, is varied in different geographic regions and even within the geographical regions of Iran. Also, the phenomenon in different regions will have many physical consequences. So, the basic question is, given the particular geographical situation and ethnic diversity in the region, what are the physical consequences of polygamy on rural settlements in Hirmand County? The purpose of this study was to analyze the situation and spatial consequences of polygamy phenomenon in rural areas of Hirmand County in Sistan and Baluchistan province, Iran.Design/methodology/approach- The research is descriptive-analytical and based on, field studies and completion households’ questionnaires. The statistical population of the study consisted of 303 villages, which after the consultation with members of the councils, local experts in the study area, 30 villages with prevailing occurrence of polygamy had been selected by proportional allocation method according to their destination to the border. SPSS and ArcGIS soft wares were used for data and statistical analysis and zoning.Findings- The results of the study confirm that the less distance between the villages of Hirmand County from the border of Iran and Afghanistan, the more polygamy cases in villages within a radius of 5 km of the border is more common than other villages. In this regard, the results of Kendall test confirm the significant relationship between this lifestyle and its impact on the physical development of villages.Originality / Value- A review in the literature of research shows that this issue has not been taken into consideration in previous studies related to the field of geography. To this regard, the study, understanding the necessity and importance of this issue, sought to study and analyze the situation of polygamy as well as to analyze its physical consequences on the rural settlements in Hirmand County.

Distribution and biodiversity components of hard ticks as potential vectors of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) in borderline of Iran-Afghanistan

ABSTRACT The objectives of the present study were to investigate prevalence and biodiversity components of hard ticks as potential vectors of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus in livestock of Iran–Afghanistan borderline in 2019. A total of 865 ticks were randomly collected from 10 counties of Iran–Afghanistan border line. Camels, cows, goats, and sheep were selected as hosts. A total of two genera and five species were identified according to morphological keys. The biodiversity indices (Simpson, Shannon, Margalef, Berger-Parker, and Pielou) were calculated. Rarefaction curves and richness estimators were used to calculate richness. Biodiversity components were adjusted using SHE analysis. Dominant species were Hyalomma and Rhipicephalus. Simpson and Shannon species diversity indices showed that the highest species diversity belonged to goats and also South Khorasan was more diverse than Sistan and Baluchestan. In SHE analysis, the log-normal model is clearly seen in the diagrams of the cows, sheep, and goats. South Khorasan also follows the log normal distribution. Dominant ticks were the major vectors of CCHFV and goats were determined as the most diverse livestock. As a result, goat population require more monitoring. The SHE graphs mainly followed the log-normal pattern, which is an indicator of normal societies.