Khost

Khost, also transliterated Khowst, is the capital of Khost Province in Afghanistan. It is on the eastern border with Pakistan.

It is on a plateau,1 km high, 150 kilometers south of Kabul and 100 kilometers from Gardez that extends to the East for about 40 km until the Pakistan border. The plateau rises to peaks 2500 to 3500 km to the north, and to 1800 m in the south. The Khowst valley is blocked by 3km mountains in the west.

The fall of Khost, in 1991, was the beginning of the end for Communist Kabul, as Khost commanded the approaches to it. Khost was a key al-Qaeda training facility in 1997.

With the recent U.S. change of command in Afghanistan, there has been an upswing of attacks in Khost, especially near-simultaneous suicide attacks.