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ANALYSIS: Khost's Pivotal Position
Wednesday, March 20, 2002
(16:08 GMT)
By Malcolm Haslett
BBC Eurasia Analyst

US-led military action has focused on eastern Afghanistan.
Image Credit: l'Agence France-Presse (AFP).

This is strongly Pashtun territory, and though many of its inhabitants are traditionally supporters of the king, there is no doubt there is also some residual support for the Taleban.

Khost province lies on Afghanistan's mountainous border with Pakistan.

Its valleys are relatively fertile, with important agricultural potential.

But it is the geographical situation which has given Khost a central role in the various rounds of fighting that have plagued the country for over 20 years.

Image Credit: The BBC.

It was a major base in the war between Communists and Islamic forces in the 1980s, with the Soviet army trying to cut off supply routes from nearby Pakistan.

The Pakistani city of Miram-Shah, just across the border, was used by mujahideen groups as a major supply base for their forces inside Afghanistan.

* Strategic Importance
(More: BBC Online News Source)
2002 © The British Broadcasting Corporation.

Dan