Ray;
reality check for you .... read this article from only 2-3 days ago .... does this look like the Pakistani Pukhtoons consider themselves Afghans??? This is a story of Pukhtoons from both sides of the border. Its just a common everyday article ... I am just using it as an example ...
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/jul20...ain/main11.htm
Eight Afghan militiamen kidnapped by Pak tribesmen
PESHAWAR: Tribesmen in Bajaur agency had taken eight Afghan militiamen hostage, following a deadly clash over collection of tax on transportation of timber across the border, an official said Sunday.
The hostages were being held by Salarzai tribesmen in Sara Ona, a village near the Afghan border, in the Bajaur tribal region, said Brig Mahmood Shah, the chief of security for the area. Four Afghan troops and one suspected timber smuggler were also killed in Kunar in anothr clash on Friday, in the other Afghan province opposite Bajaur.
Sayed Fazl-e-Akbar, governor of Kunar, said the fighting occurred when the Afghan troops spotted the smugglers and tried to stop them. An elder from the Salarzai tribe, whose members live on both sides of the border, said the Afghan soldiers fought with other members of his tribe following a dispute over tax on timber they were bringing across the border.
The tribesmen were angered after Afghan authorities "unilaterally increased" the tax on timber, said Zahir Shah Salarzai, who lives on the Pakistani side. Shah said government officials were negotiating with the tribesmen to release the hostages. "We are making efforts to get these men and hand them over to Afghan authorities," he said adding that the issue will be resolved soon.