Kammala jumla mai zuwa: Pashtuns na Afghanistan sun sami cikakken 'yanci daga tsoma bakin siyasar Burtaniya a lokacin mulkin Amanullah Khan, bayan Yaƙin Anglo-Afghan na Uku. A cikin shekarun 1950 an fara jin kiran da aka yi wa Pashtunistan a Afghanistan da sabuwar jihar Pakistan. Wannan ya haifar da mummunar dangantaka tsakanin al'ummomin biyu. Sarautar Afghanistan ta ƙare lokacin da Shugaba Daoud Khan ya karɓi iko da Afghanistan daga dan uwansa Zahir Shah a 1973, wanda ya buɗe ƙofofi don yakin wakili da maƙwabta da haɓakar Marxism. A watan Afrilu na shekara ta 1978,
An kashe Daoud Khan tare da danginsa da danginsa. An fara daukar kwamandojin mujahideen a makwabciyar Pakistan don yakin basasa a kan Jamhuriyar Demokradiyyar Afghanistan - gwamnatin Marxist kuma Pashtun Khalqists ne ke mamaye ta. A shekara ta 1979, Tarayyar Soviet ta mamaye Afghanistan maƙwabciyarta ta kudu don ta kawar da 'yan tawaye da ke ta da ƙarfi. Amurka, Saudi Arabiya, China da sauransu sun ba da kuɗin mujahideen, kuma sun haɗa da wasu kwamandojin Pashtun kamar Gulbuddin Hekmatyar da Jalaluddin Haqqani. A halin da ake ciki, miliyoyin Pashtuns sun gudu daga mahaifarsu don su zauna tare da sauran 'yan gudun hijirar Afghanistan a Pakistan da Iran, kuma daga can dubun dubatar sun ci gaba zuwa Arewacin Amurka, Tarayyar Turai, Gabas ta Tsakiya, Australia da sauran sassan duniya.