(1) Most of the dead were Pushtun.

(2) Even then, the most elevated Pushtun elder dares not condescend to another man of his tribe.

(3) Mr Karzai is a Pushtun, a member of Afghanistan's largest ethnic group, and Dr Abdullah is perceived as a Tajik (though he is actually half Pushtun).

(4) And it is defined by Pushtunwali: there is no Pushtun nation or, in fact, ethnicity.

(5) Even Mr Abdullah probably knows that his election could worsen the insurgency in the Pushtun south.

(6) Taliban insurgency is spreading in its north-west frontier region, fuelled partly by a similar Pushtun uprising against NATO and American troops in Afghanistan (see article).

(7) An exploding opium harvest, which is providing cash for the Taliban and a reason for Pushtun farmers to keep the government away, is one reason.

(8) Since Kashmir was (and is) a Muslim majority territory, Pakistan felt justified in seeing Pushtun warlords charge in from the north-west of Pakistan, late in 1947, to seize control of Kashmir.