Khojak Pass (el. ) is a mountain pass connecting Qila Abdullah with

Chaman Chaman ( Balochi, Pashto and ur, ) is a city and recently claimed as a new district of Balochistan named Chaman District as it was earlier a part of district Qila Abdullah District located on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. It is the capital ...

in the province of

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. The road through the

Toba Achakzai The Toba Achakzai ( ps, توبه اڅکزۍ) or Khwaja Amran is an offshoot of the Toba Kakar range of mountains, north of Chaman, in Balochistan, Pakistan, extending into Maruf District in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. It is crossed by N-25 Na ...

range connects the larger cities of

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...

, Pakistan, and

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. * Khojak railroad tunnel long; pictured on the old five rupees note. * Small forts defend the pass on each hill top. *"Historically, the

Achakzai The Achakzai or Achekzai ( ps, اڅکزی; fa, اچکزایی) is a Pashtun tribe that resides on both sides of the Durand Line, centered on Killa Abdullah District in Pakistan with some clans as far away as Afghanistan's Kandahar Province. Id ...

, across the Khojak Mountains, have controlled the smuggling routes around the Khojak Pass, one of the two major mountain passes that connect the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

with the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

, the other being the more famous"

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (خیبر درہ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by traversing pa ...

."The Master of Spin Boldak: Undercover with Afghanistan’s drug-trafficking border police"
by Matthieu Aikins, ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

'', December, 2009, p. 54. Note: The writer traversed the Pass, "arriv ngin the town of Chaman after four hours on a crumbling road." p. 53. Retrieved 2010-04-20.

References

Notes

* ''Encyclopedia of Pakistan'' by Zahid Hussain Anjum. Jahangir Book Depot, Pakistan (2005–06) {{Balochistan-geo-stub Mountain passes of Balochistan (Pakistan) Mountain passes of Pakistan