'Greater Afghanistan' Map On Pashto Poet's Grave Sparks Fresh Taliban Challenge To Pakistan

The Taliban, in a striking display of political messaging, placed a map of “Greater Afghanistan" on the grave of celebrated Pashto poet Matiullah Turab, turning his funeral into a platform for signalling long-standing territorial claims. The map prominently included large parts of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, marking them as historic Afghan lands—a move that directly challenges Pakistan’s sovereignty.

Top Taliban sources told CNN-News18 that the act was intentional and symbolic, aligning with Kabul’s traditional rejection of the Durand Line, the 1893 boundary that Afghanistan has never formally recognised. “The Greater Afghanistan map reflects our long-held stance that the Durand Line is an imposed border," the sources said, adding that placing it on Turab’s grave was me