BORDER TOWNS, MARKETS AND CONFLICT XCEPT t]

The chapter provides a snapshot of the border region in the final years of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and NATO troop presence and immediately following the 2021 Taliban takeover. [...] The intent of the merger has been to improve the citizenship and development status of affected populations on the Pakistani side of the Durand Line. [...] The border fence is the outcome of a securitization endeavor by the Pakistani state, in the context of protracted militancy and terrorism in the region. [...] It is the headquarters of the Joint Forces Command, which unites military groups present on the coast—the Giants Brigade, the Tuhami Resistance made up of locals opposed to the Houthis, and the Guardians of the Republic. [...] But throughout all the changes, the basis of the economy that arose in the wake of the regime’s withdrawal from the border area remained firmly in place: the importing of goods into Syria.