:Kot-e Ashro
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name = Kot-e-Ashro
| other_name =
| native_name = کوټه عښرو
| settlement_type = Town
| image_skyline =
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| pushpin_map = Afghanistan
| pushpin_label_position = bottom
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Afghanistan
| pushpin_mapsize = 300
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = Afghanistan
| subdivision_type1 = Province
| subdivision_name1 = Maidan Wardak
| subdivision_type2 = District
| subdivision_name2 = Jalrez
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| timezone = UTC+04:30
| coordinates = {{coord|34|26|57|N|68|47|38|E|region:AF|display=inline,title}}
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Kot-e-Ashro (also Kotah-ye `Ashro, Kot-i-Ashro, Kuteh-Ashro), ({{langx|ps|کوټه عښرو}}) is a small town in the western Paghman Mountains of Jalrez District, Maidan Wardak Province, Afghanistan. It was formerly the district capital until it was taken by the Taliban in 2006. The town lies along the Kabul–Behsud Highway, {{convert|14.6|km}} by road northwest of Maidan Shar.{{Cite web|url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Maidan+Shahr,+Afghanistan/34.449167,68.793889/@34.4169918,68.6986698,29698m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m8!4m7!1m5!1m1!1s0x38d3db8ad02cc27b:0x9211f65479fa8e08!2m2!1d68.8406928!2d34.3610595!1m0?hl=en|title=Jalrez|publisher=Google Maps, Google|access-date=30 April 2020}}
History
During the Soviet–Afghan War it was a stronghold of the mujahideen.{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cZhItPVJ0IcC&dq=Kot-e+Ashro&pg=PA50|title=Infantry, Volume 93, Issue 4|pages=50–1|year=2004}} They held their fort at Kot-e Ashro until 1987, when they were forced to surrender to the Soviets. Some 450 mujahideen were executed upon the orders of a Soviet commander.{{cite web|author=Syed Shabbir Hussain |author2=Absar Hussain Rizvi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R0VuAAAAMAAJ&q=Kot-e+Ashro|title=Afghanistan Whose War?|publisher=el-Mashriqi Foundation |year=1987|page=98}}
In 2006, the Taliban captured the town, and it ceased to be the capital of Jalrez district.{{cite web|url=https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/en/reports/economy-development-environment/one-land-two-rules-9-delivering-public-services-in-insurgency-affected-jalrez-district-of-wardak-province/|title=One Land, Two Rules (9): Delivering public services in insurgency-affected Jalrez district of Wardak province|publisher=Afghan Analysts Network|date=16 December 2019|access-date=30 April 2020}}
In late July to early August 2012, 11 citizens of the Hazara ethnic group were brutally tortured and beheaded by the Taliban in Kot-e-Ashro. In one incident on August 1, five people were forced off a vehicle and killed together.{{cite web|url=http://outlookafghanistan.net/editorialdetail.php?post_id=5075|title=The Beheadings in Jalrez|newspaper=Afghanistan Daily Outlook|date=4 August 2012|access-date=30 April 2020}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Jalrez District}}
{{Wardak Province}}
Category:Populated places in Maidan Wardak Province
{{Wardak-geo-stub}}