Kot-e Ashro (also Kotah-ye `Ashro, Kot-i-Ashro, Kuteh-Ashro) (Pashto:کوټه عښرو ) is a small town in the western Paghman Mountains of

Jalrez District Jalrez (Pashto/ prs, جلرېز) is a district in the west of Maidan Shar, Maidan Wardak Province, Afghanistan. The main town lies at Jalrez, which is southwest of the centre of Kabul via the main Kabul-Behsud Highway. The district is a major p ...

Maidan Wardak Province Maidan Wardak (Pashto: ; Dari: ), also called Wardag or Wardak, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the central region of Afghanistan. It is divided into eight districts and has a population of approximately 500,00 The capital ...

, Afghanistan. It was formerly the district capital until it was taken by the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

in 2006. The town lies along the Kabul–Behsud Highway, by road northwest of

Maidan Shar Maidan Shar ( ps, میدانښار, Maidānkhār; fa, میدانشار, Maidānshār), also Maidan Shahr or simply Maidan, is the capital of Maidan Wardak province in central Afghanistan. Its population was estimated to be 35,008 in 2003, of whic ...

History

During the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...

it was a stronghold of the ''

mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term th ...

''. 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. In 2006, the Taliban captured the town, and it ceased to be the capital of Jalrez district. 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.

References

Populated places in Maidan Wardak Province Jalrez District {{Wardak-geo-stub