Siege of Khost
Part of the Soviet–Afghan War and the Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)
Khost Khost (Afghanistan)
Date 1980 – March 31, 1991 Location Khost, Khost Province, Afghanistan Result Mujahideen victory Soviet withdrawal (1988) Mujahideen forces capture the city (1991)
Belligerents
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan  Soviet Union (1980–1988)	Afghan Mujahideen: Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin Haqqani network Harakat-i-Inqilab-i-Islami Local Ahmadzai tribes Arab Foreign Fighters Afghan Interim Government (from 1988) Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin (until July 1989) Harakat-i Inqilab-i Islami
Commanders and leaders
Mohammed Rafie Abdul Qadir Shahnawaz Tanai Mohammad Aslam Watanjar Abdul Rashid Dostum Nazar Mohammed Mohammed Asif Delawar Sergei Sokolov Valentin Varennikov Boris Gromov	Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Jalaluddin Haqqani Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi Ibrahim Umari Haqqani

During the nine-year Soviet–Afghan War in the 1980s and the subsequent Afghan civil war, the town of Khost was besieged for more than eleven years. Its airstrip's 3 km runway served as a base for helicopter operations by Soviet forces.

It began soon after the invasion of Afghanistan by Soviet troops, when Afghan guerillas took control of the only land route between Khost and Gardez, effectively putting a stop to the Soviet advance.

At the end of July 1983, the forces of Jalaluddin Haqqani laid siege to two towns in Khost and the Tani, Mangal, Zazai and Waziri tribes began taking an active part in the fighting, despite being passive up until then. All of the aforementioned events coincided with former King Mohammed Zahir Shah's appeal for a united front, which caused rumours about the Royalists intending to establish a provisional government in a liberated Khost. However, Khost wasn't captured and by October, the Tani tribe had withdrawn from coalition due to a tribal rivalry with the Zadran. Many rebels also returned home as winter came on. By the end of December, government forces arriving from Gardez ended the siege of the two towns and recaputered Zazi Maidan.^[1]

Operation Magistral was an offensive launched to relieve it at the end of 1987. The first convoys reached Khost at the end of December 1987. When the main Soviet force had withdrawn, Mujahideen groups cut off Khost once again, as they had done since 1981.

Following the creation of the Commander's Shura, which united the Peshawar Seven and assault was coordinated to capture Khost, an assault which at least according to former special envoy to the Mujahideen Peter Tomsen was more an ISI operation than a Mujahideen one.^[2] This fighting was a co-ordinated attack by the forces of Hezb-e Islami of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Jalaluddin Haqqani and local Ahmadzai tribes led by Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi. The Ahmadzai were able to spearhead the assault after Hezb-e Islam and Haqqania suffered setbacks, and eventually able to capture the city and negotiate the surrender of the garrison resulting in victory on March 31, 1991.^[3]

References

Further reading

• De Ponfilly, Christophe(2001); Massoud l'Afghan; Gallimard; ISBN 2-07-042468-5
• Bear Trap: Afghanistan's Untold Story by Brigadier Mohammad Yousaf
• Greenwald, John (Jan 11, 1988). "Afghanistan Fighting for the Road to Khost". TIME. Archived from the original on December 27, 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-28.

33°19′59″N 69°55′01″E / 33.3331°N 69.9169°E / 33.3331; 69.9169