A Code Broken: How the Taliban’s Shelter of TTP Violates Pashtunwali

Pashtunwali, the Pashtun moral code, tells an old tale: a man’s honour is based on his hujra, the guest room where Nanawatai (sanctuary) is given and Melmastia (hospitality) is uncompromised. This promise is sacred, but it has a severe and immediate effect: if the protected guest uses the host’s roof to attack a neighbour, the host loses his honour and gets the neighbour’s fury right away. This is the centuries-old unwritten law that governs life along the Durand Line, and it is the same law that the Afghan Taliban is breaking. The common narrative reiterated by the Kabul leadership paints Pakistan as the aggressor, often attacking Afghanistan, behaving in a hostile manner. However, this narrative crumbles when put up against the very cultural code that the Taliban professes to uphold. What is being played out on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border is not an act of unjustified aggression by Islamabad; rather, the natural self-inflicted outcome of the Afghan Taliban refusing to observe the sacred principles of their own ancient code. The Afghan Taliban, by providing refuge to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group specifically targeting Pakistan, has, in the eyes of Pashtunwali, laid the foundation for this hostility.

Pashtunwali is an unwritten, long-established moral code that dictates the behavior of all Pashtuns. Its principles include Melmastia (hospitality), Nanawatai (sanctuary/asylum), and Badal (justice/revenge). These principles are the source of honor and respect for every Pashtun. Especially the rules governing conflict and sanctuary are absolute. The principle of Nanawatai speaks to the right of asylum. However, this is balanced by the rule that a person or group that shelters someone’s established enemy automatically inherits that hostility and becomes an enemy themselves.

The TTP is the open foe of Pakistan. Its armed actions constitute a war against the Pakistani state as well as its citizens. TTP has become the enemy by all standards of Pashtunwali justice and retaliation (Badal). By offering these aggressors protection, operational freedom, and logistics support, the Afghan Taliban are not being a friendly neighbor; instead, they are giving the enemy a platform to operate. This decision, as they themselves call it, changes them, by their own standards, into enemies.  The Afghan Taliban tries to refute their involvement by stating that they have their own land and they have nothing to do with the attacks across the border. This refusal, however, is empty in the face of reality, revealing a cynical and selective application of Pashtunwali.

The principle of Nanawatai is being misused by the Taliban as they are using the code’s sanctuary clause not as a means of offering protection to the weak, but as a strategic shield for an aggressive terrorist force. All evidence confirms the TTP’s presence in Afghanistan, including their launching and planning of attacks from there, targeting not only Pakistan but also other countries. One of its examples is the recent attack on the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border area, killing three Chinese nationals. Intelligence reports have revealed that TTP Shura leadership openly meets in Kabul, confirming the highest level of sanctuary.

The Afghan Taliban repaid the Melmastia that Pakistan represented with Hostility. Pakistan has hosted millions of Afghan nationals for decades, upholding the true spirit of Melmastia. The Taliban repay this by sheltering the TTP, which continually commits cross-border violations and relies on Afghan nationals in attacks within Pakistan. Pakistan told the United Nations Security Council that at least 60 militant camps operate inside Afghanistan. The recent suicide attack in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, and in a military school near the Pak-Afghan border were carried out by Afghan nationals, a major concern for Pakistan.

Moreover, the spread of resources, as TTP fighters frequently make appearances in propaganda videos, holding US-made military hardware discarded in Afghanistan, shows that, at the very least, the Taliban has indeed allowed the movement of military equipment that is powerful enough to be in the possession of a familiar enemy outfit. Various reports suggest almost $7.2 billion of advanced weaponry was left in Afghanistan after the US withdrawal. This self-contradiction indicates that the Afghan Taliban is pursuing an ideological vow to global jihadist solidarity rather than regional stability, good neighborliness, and even the fundamental cultural dignity of Pashtunwali. They are using the code’s sanctuary clause (Nanawatai) not as a means of offering protection to the weak, but as a strategic shield for an aggressive terrorist force.

Ironically, Pakistan, the nation accused of aggression, has repeatedly attempted diplomatic engagement and mediation, an important part of Pashtunwali; Jirga, only to be met with continued border aggression and refusal to dismantle terror sanctuaries. This shows Pakistan as the responsible actor maintaining order and sovereignty. Under the Tehrik-e-Taliban Afghanistan’s (TTA) own cultural rules, Pakistan’s attacks targeting TTP hideouts are a morally and ethically justifiable defensive response to an act of established hostility.

The most unfortunate part of this code deception is that the innocent bears the brunt of the consequences. Pakistan’s necessary retaliatory actions, such as the airstrikes targeting TTP hideouts in Khost and Kunar, are a direct geopolitical consequence of the Taliban’s decision to shelter terrorists. TTA’s choice risks dragging the Afghan people into a new conflict purely because the leadership refused to honour a key tenet of their cultural code. By prioritizing global jihadist solidarity over regional stability and cultural norms, the Taliban confirms its identity as a transnational terrorist ecosystem, not a legitimate government.

The conflict at the border is fundamentally an issue of ethical and cultural integrity. The Afghan Taliban leadership must recognize that their accusation, “Pakistan is the enemy”, is simply a smokescreen; they initiated the hostility by breaking the code of Pashtunwali. The TTA must choose between the global extremist network – TTP/ISKP/Al-Qaeda – and the principles of Pashtunwali and regional stability. As Winston Churchill noted very well, “Jaw-jaw is always better than war-war”, but there will not be any substantial dialogue until the sacredness of the cultural code is reinstated. Until the Taliban in Afghanistan oust the TTP from their territory, that is, preferring peace and Pashtun dignity to jihadist unity, the Pakistan border defense will not be aggressive. It will merely be the inevitable consequence of a code broken.