Source:

Bernt Glatzer: Pashtuns estimated to account for between 40 per cent and 60 per cent of Afghan nationals [ID 1527]

"Pushtuns are estimated to account for between 40 per cent and 60 per cent of Afghan nationals. There are no reliable figures for the total population, and estimates range between 15 and 20 million. Thus the minimum number of Pushtuns in Afghanistan (40 per cent of 15 million) is 6 million, while the maximum (60 per cent of 20 million) is 12 million. In Pakistan the figures are equally unreliable; the last Census (1981) counted 11 million Pushto-speaking Pakistanis. The Pushtuns subdivide themselves into thousands of tribes along a genealogical charter which they use as a basis of unity and solidarity as well as of fission and conflict. Due to their explicit and elaborate tribal system and possession of their own language and code of ethnic values and norms (Pushtunwali), ethnic identity for Pushtuns is straightforward and rarely questioned by themselves or others, although interethnic fluctuation takes place."

Source: Dr. Bernt Glatzer: Is Afghanistan on the Brink of Ethnic and Tribal Disintegration? In: William Maley: Fundamentalism Reborn? Afghanistan and the Taliban, London 1998, p- 167-181"

Source:

Self-conception of the Pashtun [ID 18481]

"

20.04.2007 - Source: UK Home Office

Pashtuns are the largest single ethnic group in the country, constituting some 38% of the population ("Operational Guidance Note: Afghanistan") [ID 19966]

"Pashtuns (also called Pathans) are Sunni Muslims predominant in the southeast and southwest of the country and are the largest single ethnic group in Afghanistan, constituting some 38% of the population. Pashtuns have much in common in terms of culture, language and traditions with their fellow Pashtu-speakers in the North West Frontier and Baluchistan provinces of Pakistan. Most Pashtuns are members of one of two main tribes, the Ghalji and the Durrani. The Ghalji are more numerous but the Durrani have long dominated – Hamid Karzai is Durrani. Outside the Pashtun-dominated south, tribal identity is less important than wider ethnic, sectarian, and regional affiliations on which many of the most powerful warlords’ power is based. The tribal system continues to dominate in the south, and as a result power is less concentrated, with competing sub-tribes, conflicting claims to leadership, and small-scale militias. Pashtun leaders have held political power for much of Afghanistan’s history. Some Pashtun leaders were broadly supportive of the Taliban regime and many Taliban fighters were Pashtuns. As a result, when Taliban rule ended in 2001, Pashtuns in the north of Afghanistan were the target of ethnically motivated violence and continue to suffer harassment and insecurity. Pashtuns in Kabul have not faced the same level of targeting but have reportedly encountered some harassment and discrimination by police and intelligence officials."

Document(s): Open document

31.12.2003 - Source: Minorities at Risk

University of Maryland - Minorities at Risk: Background Information ("Assessment for Pashtuns in Afghanistan") [#30492],  [ID 1161]

"The Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, comprising (as of 1998) approximately 38 percent of the country’s population. They are currently and historically the dominant political group in Afghanistan. Most Pashtuns speak Pashto (although some in Kabul speak Dari like most other groups in Afghanistan) and are primarily Sunni Muslim. although there are a few Twelver Shi`I (LANG = 1, ETHDIFXX = 3)
Pashtun political life is dominated by tribal and subtribal loyalties and divisions which frequently contribute to intracommunal conflict. The mujahedin groups of the 1980s and 1990s were often divided along tribal lines, and fell to fighting each other and the militias of other ethnic groups once the Soviets withdrew in 1989.
Pashtuns are concentrated in a semicircular area following the Afghan border in the south and southeastern parts of the country. Enclaves of Pashtuns live scattered among other ethnic groups in much of the rest of the country, especially in the northern regions and in the western interior due to the resettlement policies of Amir Abdul Rahman Khan, who ruled Afghanistan from 1880 to 1901.
In 1994, a dominantly Pashtun group calling itself the Taliban arose in the southern city of Kandahar. The group, led by religious students who had studied in Pakistan (talib means student) and backed by Pakistan, quickly started scoring military successes. By 1996, they had taken the capital Kabul and soon controlled 90 percent of Afghanistan’s territory (POLDIS00 and ECDIS00 = 0). In areas under their control, the Taliban instituted Shari`a law and strictly enforced their interpretation of Sunni doctrine. Women were virtually banned from the public sphere, and men had restrictions placed on their behavior and appearance as well.
Compared to other groups in Afghanistan, the Pashtuns suffer relatively little demographic stress, although they have been adversely affected by a drought since 1997. Pashtuns, since they share an ethnic identity with followers of the Taliban, have not been subject to the same degree of political violence as have other groups, such as the Hazara and Tajiks. The Taliban has also secured roads and disarmed the population in areas under their control, allowing the resumption of a more normal economic life. However, Pashtuns, and especially Pashtun women, do have to endure limitations on behavior and movement imposed by the Taliban and enforced by their "religious police." A functioning judiciary has not been established (although ad hoc Islamic courts operate throughout the country), and political organization is significantly restricted. For Pashtuns who live in border areas and those in the 10 percent of the country not controlled by the Taliban, life is considerably more precarious.
The Taliban are the primary representation of Pashtuns in Afghanistan. The main functioning Pashtun opposition to the Taliban is the Hezb-i Islami (Hekmatyr faction). Formerly joined with the Northern Alliance, the Hezb-i Islami has since declared itself independent of all other factions in the country. Hekmatyr and his militia claim to have ceased all combat, and have been pushed to the very periphery of Afghan politics as a result.
Despite seeming Taliban hegemony, some sources report that authority among Pashtuns is reverting back to its traditional sources, tribal and subtribal chiefs. Reportedly, the Taliban has had difficulty recruiting new fighters and exerts little influence in some regions nominally under its control."

Document(s): Open document

31.12.2003 - Source: Minorities at Risk

Minorities at Risk: Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group ("Assessment for Pashtuns in Afghanistan") [#30492],  [ID 1528]

"The Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, comprising (as of 1998) approximately 38 percent of the country’s population. They are currently and historically the dominant political group in Afghanistan. Most Pashtuns speak Pashto (although some in Kabul speak Dari like most other groups in Afghanistan) and are primarily Sunni Muslim (although there are a few Twelver Shi`i)."

Document(s): Open document

09.09.2003 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Up to 30 Pashtun students, arrested last month in a raid on the Kabul university campus, still missing ("Students Still Missing After Security Raid") [#15933],  [ID 1523]

Document(s): Open document

07.08.2003 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

3 university students injured in an inter-ethnic confrontation between Pashtun and ethnic Tajik students ("Campus Fight Highlights Ethnic Tensions") [#14889],  [ID 1524]

Document(s): Open document

05.08.2003 - Source: International Crisis Group

Report on Pashtuns in Afghanistan: historical background, representation at the centre, the Bonn process, warlordism, trade and governance ("The Problem Of Pashtun Alienation") [#14825],  [ID 1525]

"Prospects for an enduring peace in Afghanistan are still fragile despite progress since the ouster of the Taliban in December 2001. A key obstacle is the perception of many ethnic Pashtuns that they lack meaningful representation in the central government, particularly in its security institutions. Other factors contributing to growing alienation from the Bonn political process include continued violence against Pashtuns in parts of the north and west, heavy-handed search operations and collaboration with abusive commanders by the U.S.-led Coalition, and impediments to trade in the southern and eastern provinces. [...]
Although headed by a Pashtun, Hamid Karzai, the Interim Administration created in Bonn in December 2001 was dominated by a mainly Panjshiri Tajik armed faction, the Shura-yi Nazar-i Shamali (Supervisory Council of the North). The “power ministries” of defence, interior and foreign affairs were held respectively by Mohammad Qasim Fahim, Younus Qanuni, and Abdullah Abdullah, all members of Shura-yi Nazar. The Emergency Loya Jirga in June 2002, which was expected to install a more broadly representative and hence more legitimate government, ended up reinforcing the Panjshiri monopoly over the central government’s security institutions, though it included Pashtuns in key positions in financial institutions. [...]
Alienation from the centre is compounded by the displacement of large numbers of Pashtuns in the north, amid a wave of ethnically targeted violence following the collapse of Taliban rule by factions of the United Front that helped the U.S.-led Coalition. UNHCR, the Karzai administration, and some regional authorities have taken steps to facilitate the return of displaced northern Pashtuns. The critical issue will be ensuring security and access to land for those communities that were displaced. The international community should also support continued monitoring of violence against Pashtuns in the north and west by non-Pashtun militias, which remains acute in the provinces of Herat and Badghis, and call on regional authorities to remove and hold accountable commanders responsible for these abuses.[...] (p. i)"

Document(s): Open document

01.2003 - Source: Overseas Development Institute

Report on increased tensions with Pashtun community ("Afghanistan’s political and constitutional development (Authors: Chris Johnson, William Maley, Alexander Thier and Ali Wardak)") [#11961],  [ID 1526]

"The unresolved assassination of the (Pashtun) ATA Vice-President Haji Qadir in July 2002 increased tensions with the Pashtun community; until the killing is resolved, many Pashtuns will continue to blame Marshal Fahim. Yet while there are certainly Tajik­ Pashtun tensions, and a number of Pashtuns fear that Tajiks are trying to deprive them of power, the conflicts have more to do with the personal ambitions of individual leaders than with ethnicity, and alliances are created across ethnic groups as they have been throughout Afghan history."

Document(s): Open document

11.06.2002 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

IWPR: Powerful Panjshiris seeking to impose dominance at Loya Jirga ("Panjshiri Factor Looms Over Loya Jirga") [#8665],  [ID 1529]

"Massoud was fully aware of his shortcomings. He was also informed of the abuses committed by his Panjshiri supporters. Prior to his assassination, Massoud warned his commanders to never again commit the mistakes of the early 1990s. This was reiterated during the Bonn talks in December 2001. The only way for a new government to succeed, he had stressed, was through equitable power sharing among all groups.

The reality today, however, is far different. Since re-taking Kabul last November, the Panjshiris have once again sought to control as much as possible. Known as the "Panjshiri Mafia", they immediately took the main ministries and are now involved in mafia-style rackets ranging from imposing their own taxi cartels to beating up competitive Pashtun merchants.

For a faction that claims to represent Afghanistan as a whole, the Panjshiris have promoted Massoud's image to one of almost mythical proportions. His portrait appears in virtually every shop, tea house and mosque in Kabul and the northern areas. It is also featured in every police or army facility. All of this does not go down well with Afghans, particularly Pashtuns, who do not regard Massoud as their leader.

"If the Panjshiris were really interested in projecting a unified image, they should include other heroes such as Abdul Haq," said Anders Fange, a senior UN official with many years experience in Afghanistan, referring to the renowned Pashtun resistance commander who was killed by the Taleban in eastern Afghanistan in the autumn of 2001."

Document(s): Open document

06.06.2002 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

IWPR: Pashtuns in Herat ("Loya Jirga Delegates Facing Intimidation") [#28930],  [ID 1530]

"The once popular Khan has seen his support fall in the months since the defeat of the fundamentalist Taleban militia. He is said to be raking in millions of US dollars each week from the road tolls that his soldiers impose on the tens of thousands of truckloads of imported goods and commodities that come over the Iranian border into Herat. Khan is increasingly criticised for his failure to improve both public services and the local economy.

Then there are old disputes, dating back to the 1991 civil war that followed the collapse of the old communist regime, when Khan's troops battled the ethnic Pashtun Hezb-e-Islami forces led by the former prime minister, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

Khan's forces also battled the Pashtun Taleban when they took over most of the country in 1996. He regards the former king and the present interim authority president, Hamid Karzai, both Pashtuns, with great suspicion. This has exacerbated his problems with Herat's Pashtun minority.

"The Herat authorities capture our leaders to frighten us," a Pashtun resident of the Kushk district said. "They say we are Zahir Shah's friends and that all Pashtuns are Taleban. They don't want our leaders elected because they are afraid votes will go to the king."

Document(s): Open document

1997 - Source:

Library of Congress: Country Studies Afghanistan: Ethnic Groups - Pashtun ("Library of Congress: Afghanistan - A Country Study (Data as of 1997)") [ID 1531]

Document(s): Library of Congress: Afghanistan - A Country Study (Data as of 1997)