The Durand Line - Introduction

Abstract

The US-led military invasion of Afghanistan, mission “Enduring Freedom”, started 7 October 2001 and catapulted one region of Asia that had seemed to have been forgotten since the end of the Cold War into the forefront of political awareness. However, 12 years later, in 2013, it was more than obvious that the intervention had not achieved the outcomes which were once expected of it. Although US-Special Forces killed Osama bin Laden in the Pakistan city of Abbottabad on 2 May 2011, al-Qaida, the Taliban and other militant Islamist groups are still prevalent in the region and have the potential to revitalize after the withdrawal of international troops.