Siege of Khost, 1980-91
A Soviet-afghan garrison is successfully pinned down by guerrilla forces for over a decade
The capital of a province with the same name, Khost is the largest city in southeast Afghanistan. Before the 1980s it already had a tradition of warfare and was the location for three rebellions between 18561925 against ruling Afghan emirs. However, its biggest test came during the Soviet-afghan War when a siege of the city lasted for as long as the conflict itself.
When the Soviet 40th Army invaded Afghanistan in 1979, mujahideen rebels in the southeast based themselves in a mountain range in Paktia province. This controlled the only land route between Khost and Gardez, which effectively cut off the Soviet advance into the region. The mujahideen established especially good defences along a highway that frustrated the efforts of a large Soviet garrison at Khost, along with their Afghan allies from the ruling Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DAR). Khost is close to the Pakistani border, which made the road from Gardez a vital Soviet supply route. Mujahideen forces sealed off the road and besieged Khost from 1980, although they did not anticipate that they would invest the city for eleven years.
The reason the siege lasted for such a long time was that the garrison had access to an airstrip. The runway, which was 3km long, enabled the Soviets to use Khost as a base for helicopter operations and also kept the city supplied by air. The first few years of the siege saw the 40th Army make various attempts to relieve Khost but they were repeatedly thwarted by the mujahideen. In March 1982, a battalion of Soviet armoured vehicles was ambushed in the Shahi Kot Valley, while there were two failed offensives in 1983 and 1984. During August to September 1985, a particularly large Soviet offensive managed to enter Khost itself but they were forced back to Gardez. After the relief column withdrew, the mujahideen resumed the siege and once more obstructed the road.
Operation Magistral
By late-1987, Khost’s garrison numbered
8,000 men and the Soviets decided to launch the largest offensive of the war to relieve the city. Operation Magistral was also designed to prove the DAR Army’s fighting abilities, and the combined Soviet-dar force numbered 28,000 men. Opposing them were approximately 20,000 mujahideen rebels, who were armed with Ussupplied surface-to-air missiles. These weapons intensified the siege and cut the garrison’s air supplies. Many civilians fled as shortages increased, with food doubling in price.
Magistral was launched on 19 November
1987 with Soviet soldiers from 40th Army accounting for 20,000 of the relief force. The remaining 8,000 were from the DAR armed forces and their contribution was planned to show their combat capabilities. The Soviets and DAR fought their way through the mountains from Gardez, and during 28 November to 1 December they launched an attack against well-defended mujahideen positions in the Satukandav Pass. The Soviets initially withdrew under heavy fire but a combined force of Soviet paratroopers and DAR commandos managed to capture the high ground above the pass.
The mujahideen quickly retreated to prevent encirclement, although they continued to lay mines, spring ambushes and harass the enemy with rocket fire as they withdrew in the face of superior numbers.
The Soviets now began to launch limited airborne attacks both inside and on the outskirts of Khost. Missile attacks from the mujahideen hindered progress but the city was finally relieved on 30 December
1987. For the next month, Soviet and DAR forces managed to keep the Gardez-khost road open by establishing outposts along the route. Operation Magistral had been a tactical success for the Soviets and DAR but it became a Pyrrhic victory. As in 1985, the relief of Khost was only temporary because the tide of the war was slowing turning in the mujahideen’s favour across Afghanistan.
The main body of Soviet-dar forces withdrew from the city and their roadside outposts in late-january 1988, which enabled the mujahideen to encircle Khost yet again. The Soviet Union then signed the Geneva Accords three months later that committed its armed forces to withdrawing from the whole country. It was left to the DAR to garrison Khost and they continued to defend the city from the mujahideen before capitulating in a negotiated surrender on 31 March 1991. This was over a decade since the siege had begun and two years since the last Soviet troops had departed from Afghanistan.