Siege of Khost

{{Short description|1980–1991 siege in Afghanistan}}

{{Infobox military conflict

| conflict = Siege of Khost

| partof = the Soviet–Afghan War and the Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)

| image = {{Location map | Afghanistan

| width = 300

| float = right

| label = Khost

| coordinates = {{coord|33.3338|69.9372}}

| position= right

}}

| caption =

| date = 1980 – March 31, 1991

| place = Khost, Khost Province, Afghanistan

| result = Mujahideen victory

• Soviet withdrawal (1988)
• Mujahideen forces capture the city (1991)
• Decimation of the 666th “Air Assault” Commando Regiment (1991)

| combatant1 = {{flagicon|Afghanistan|1980}} Afghanistan
{{flag|Soviet Union}} (1980–1988)

| combatant2 = {{tree list}}

• {{flagicon image|Flag of Jihad.svg}} Afghan Mujahideen:
• Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin
• Haqqani network
• Harakat-i-Inqilab-i-Islami
• Local Ahmadzai tribes
• Arab Foreign Fighters
• {{flagicon image|Flag of al-Qaeda.svg}} Al-Qaeda
• {{flagicon image|Flag of Afghan Interim Government in exile (1988-1992).svg}} Afghan Interim Government (from 1988)
• {{flagicon image|Flag of Hezbi Islami Gulbuddin.svg}} Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin (until July 1989)
• Harakat-i Inqilab-i Islami
• Supported by:
• {{flagicon|Pakistan}} Pakistan{{sfn|Coll|2004|pp=226-227}}{{sfn|Maley|1998|pp=63}}
• 23x23px Inter-Services Intelligence
• {{air force|Pakistan}} {{Cite web |last=Roblin |first=Sebastien |date=2019-03-16 |title=Pakistan’s F-16s Battled Soviet Jets—and Shot Down the Future Vice President of Russia |url=https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/pakistan%E2%80%99s-f-16s-battled-soviet-jets%E2%80%94and-shot-down-future-vice-president-russia-47717 |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=The National Interest |language=en}}
• {{flagicon|Iran}} Iran

{{tree list/end}}

| commander1 = {{flagicon|Afghanistan|1980}} Mohammed Rafie
{{flagicon|Afghanistan|1980}} Abdul Qadir
{{flagicon|Afghanistan|1980}} Shahnawaz Tanai
{{flagicon|Afghanistan|1980}} Mohammad Aslam Watanjar
{{flagicon|Afghanistan|1980}} Abdul Rashid Dostum
{{flagicon|Afghanistan|1980}} Nazar Mohammed
{{flagicon|Afghanistan|1980}} Mohammed Asif Delawar
{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} Sergei Sokolov
{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} Valentin Varennikov
{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} Boris Gromov

| commander2 = {{flagicon image|Flag_of_Hezbi_Islami_Gulbuddin.svg}} Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
{{flagicon image|Flag of Jihad.svg}} Jalaluddin Haqqani
{{flagicon image|Flag of Jihad.svg}} Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi
{{flagicon image|Flag of Jihad.svg}} Ibrahim Umari Haqqani

| strength1 =

| strength2 =

| casualties1 =

| casualties2 =

| notes =

}}

{{Campaignbox Soviet war in Afghanistan}}

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.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}

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.{{Cite book |last=Roy |first=Oliver |title=Islam and resistance in Afghanistan |publisher=Cambridge University Press; 2nd edition |date=November 30, 1990 |isbn=978-0521397001 |pages=198 |language=English}}

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.Tomsen, Peter. The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failure of Great Powers. 2011 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.Tomsen, Peter