The Salang Pass ( ps, د سالنګ لاره; prs, كتل سالنگ ''Kutal-i Salang'', el. ) is the primary

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migr ...

connecting northern

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 borde ...

with Parwan Province, with onward connections to

Kabul Province Kabul (Persian: ), situated in the east of the country, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. The capital of the province is Kabul city, which is also Afghanistan's capital and largest city. The population of the Kabul Province i ...

, southern Afghanistan, and to the Pakistani province of

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...

.Library of Congress Country Study: Afghanistan
Chapter 2: Mountains Located on the border of Parwan Province and

Baghlan Province Baghlan (Dari: ''Baġlān'') is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the north of the country. As of 2020, the province has a population of about 1,014,634. Its capital is Puli Khumri, but its name comes from the other maj ...

, it is just to the East of the Kushan Pass, and both of them were of great importance in early times as they provided the most direct connections between the Kabul region with northern Afghanistan or

Tokharistan Tokharistan (formed from "Tokhara" and the suffix ''-stan'' meaning "place of" in Persian) is an ancient Early Middle Ages name given to the area which was known as Bactria in Ancient Greek sources. In the 7th and 8th century CE, Tokharistan c ...

. The

Salang River The Salang is a 438 kilometre long river of Afghanistan, flowing through Parwan Province. It is a tributary of the Indus River and the Ghorband River and the Panjshir River and the Kabul River. Geography The Salang River originates on the south s ...

originates nearby and flows south. The pass crosses the

Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Province ...

mountains but is now bypassed through the

Salang Tunnel The Salang Tunnel ( prs, تونل سالنگ ''Tūnel-e Sālang'', ps, د سالنگ تونل ''Da Sālang Tūnel'') is a tunnel in Afghanistan, located at the Salang Pass in the Hindu Kush mountains, between the Parwan and Baghlan provinces, ...

, which runs underneath it at a height of about 3,400 m. The tunnel was built by engineers and construction crews from the Soviet Union in 1958 – 1964 as part of a wide-ranging infrastructure build out in Afghanistan carried out by the USSR. During the Afghan civil war it was blown up in 1997 by forces of

Ahmad Shah Massoud ) , branch = Jamiat-e Islami / Shura-e Nazar Afghan Armed Forces United Islamic Front , serviceyears = 1975–2001 , rank = General , unit = , commands = Mujahideen commander during the Soviet–Afghan War ...

in order to prevent Taliban fighters from coming through it. In 2002 the Russian Ministry Of Emergency Situations (RMES) organized the work to rebuild the tunnel and the repairs were completed within a month.Newsru. Jan 19 2002.
Salang Pass reopened again It links Charikar and

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...

in the South with

Mazar-i-Sharif , official_name = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , pushpin_map = Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_label = Mazar-i-Sharif , pushpin ...

and Kunduz in the North. Before the road and tunnel were built, the main route between Kabul and northern Afghanistan was via the

Shibar Pass Shibar Pass (''Kowtal-e Shibar'') in Afghanistan is situated at a height of above sea-level, connecting Parwan Province with Bamyan Province. It is the longer of the two main routes from Kabul to Bamiyan. The journey is approximately 6 and half ...

, a much longer route which took three days. The road through the pass has carried heavy military traffic in recent conflicts and is in very bad repair.

February 2010 avalanches

On February 9, 2010, the pass was hit by multiple

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and ea ...

s. According to press reports the road through the pass was hit by 17 avalanches, killing dozens, burying miles of highway, and trapping the vehicles in the Salang tunnel. By February 10, 2010, authorities had recovered over 160 bodies.

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

reported the first avalanche blocked the tunnel, and trapped vehicles in a

traffic jam Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s. When traffic de ...

in a "deadly avalanche zone".

Gallery

File:No traffic at Salang in 1977 - panoramio.jpg, Salang Pass view File:Snow covered mountains outside of Salang tunnel in Afghanistan.jpg, The Salang Pass with heavy snow on 30 January 2009 File:Approaching the Salang tunnel -b.jpg, On the way to Salang Pass File:Afghanistan_passo_del_salang_hindukush.jpg, Salang pass view File:Mountain passes of Afghanistan2.png, Map showing mountain passes of Afghanistan File:Salang_tunnel_entrance.jpg, Entrance to Salang pass tunnel

References

External links

* {{Authority control Mountain passes of Afghanistan Landforms of Baghlan Province Landforms of Kabul Province Landforms of Parwan Province

February 2010 avalanches

Gallery

See also

References

External links