Khost (Matun) District

Khost District
District
Country  Afghanistan
Province Khost Province
District center Khost
Population (2006.[1])
  Total 160,214
Time zone D† (Afghanistan Standard Time) (UTC+4:30)

Khost (Matun) District (Pashto: خوست ولسوالۍ, Persian: ولسوالی خوست) is situated in the central and eastern part of Khost Province, Afghanistan. The district center is the town of Khost. Khost Airfield is situated 2 miles southeast of the town of Khost.

History

Nadir Shah era

When Nadir Shah was a general, he was responsible for putting down an uprising in the District, where the locals had rebelled against the Amir due to heavy taxation and robbery.[2]

British era

On 2 January 1879, General Roberts entered Matun from Hazir Pir in the Kurram valley, with a small armed contingent.[3] The intent was to pacify the district, which was described as "an unsophisticated country where the revenue had hitherto been collected in copper."[4]

Soviet-Afghan War

During the Soviet-Afghan War, the mujahideen guerrillas, blockaded Khost District, cutting off all lines of communication. The Soviets were forced to respond with Operation Magistral in 1987 to reopen the Khost-Gardez Road and bring relief to the District.[5] Khost District was the scene of intense fighting in 1987, with over 1500 guerrillas and one American adviser killed by DRA troops, according to Tass, the official Soviet news agency.[6]

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/8/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.