Gardez is the capital of the Paktia Province of Afghanistan. The population of the city was estimated to be ca. 10,000 in the 1979 census and was estimated to be 70,000 in 2008. The majority of the city's native population is Tajik. But recently, with the migration of Pashtun tribes from different parts of Paktia to this city, Pashtuns have taken over the majority of the population of this city. The city of Gardez is located at the junction between two important roads that cut through a huge alpine valley. Surrounded by the mountains and deserts of the Hindu Kush, which boil up from the valley floor to the north, east and west, it is the axis of commerce for a huge area of eastern Afghanistan and has been a strategic location for armies throughout the country's long history of conflict. Observation posts built by Alexander the Great are still crumbling on the hilltops just outside the city limits. The city of Gardez has a population of 70,641. It has 13 districts and a total land area of 6,174 hectares (23.84 sq mi). The total number of dwellings in this city is 7,849.
Khōst is the capital of Khost Province in Afghanistan. It is the largest city in the southeastern part of the country, and also the largest in the region of Loya Paktia. To the south and east of Khost lie Waziristan and Kurram in Pakistan. Khost is the home of Shaikh Zayed University. Khost Airport serves the city as well as the larger region surrounding the city.
Khost is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the southeastern part of the country. Khost consists of thirteen districts and the city of Khost serves as the capital of the province. To the east, Khost Province is bordered by North Waziristan and Kurram, which are districts in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Historically, Khost used to be a part of Paktia, and the larger region surrounding Khost is still referred to as Loya Paktia.
Paktia is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the east of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktia Province is divided into 15 districts and has a population of roughly 623,000, which is mostly a tribal society living in rural areas. Pashtuns make up the majority of the population and a small percentage include Tajiks Gardez is the provincial capital. The traditional food in Paktia is known as (dandakai) which is made from rice and mung bean or green gram.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monitoring. It collects and analyses safety data, drafts and advises on safety legislation and co-ordinates with similar organisations in other parts of the world.
Hakim Taniwal was the Governor of Paktia province in Afghanistan until he was killed by a suicide bomber on 10 September 2006, at the age of 60. Prior to his governorship of Paktia, Taniwal had governed the difficult province of Khost, near the border with Pakistan, where al-Qaeda had established training camps during the time of the Taliban and later took refuge in the Tora Bora mountains.
Gurbuz District is situated in the southeast part of Khost Province, Afghanistan. It borders Tani District to the west, Mando Zayi and Khost districts to the north and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan to the southeast. Governor of Gurbuz District is Abdulhai Zazi. The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) are responsible for all law enforcement activities in the district.
Khost Airport, also known as Khost International Airport, is located in the eastern section of Khost, which is the capital of Khost Province in Afghanistan. It is under the country's Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation (MoTCA), and is used for domestic and international flights. The Ministry of Defense also uses it for emergency relief purposes such when the recent earthquake occurred in the area.
Nadir Shah Kot District is situated in the western part of Khost Province, Afghanistan. It borders Paktia Province and Shamal District to the west, Qalandar District to the north, Musa Khel District to the northeast, Khost (Matun) District to the east, Mandozayi District to the southeast and Tani and Spera districts to the south.
Sabari & Yaqubi District is situated in the northwest part of Khost Province, Afghanistan. It borders Musa Khel District to the west, Paktia Province to the north, Bak District to the east and Tere Zayi and Khost districts to the south. Sabari & Yaqubi District has its own governor, who is appointed by the serving governor of Khost Province, and the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) are responsible for all law enforcement activities.
Shaikh Zayed University, also known as Khost University, is a public university in the city of Khost, southeastern Afghanistan. With its original name "Afghan University Peshawar", it was initially established in 2000 in Peshawar. It was shifted to Khost by special orders of the former Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The university was named after Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the first President of the United Arab Emirates, who sponsored the construction of its campus in Khost.
Arsala Jamal was an Afghan government official, who served as governor of the provinces of Khost and Logar in Afghanistan. He was assassinated in a bomb attack in Logar province of Afghanistan on 15 October 2013.
Mohammad Halim Fidai is an Afghan politician, civil society activist and a prominent journalist. He was a Governor of Paktia Province beginning in July 2020, and was previously governor of Khost, Logar, and Wardak. Fidai is an independent politician, and when first appointed governor of Wardak in 2008 he was the youngest of the 34 governors of Afghanistan.
Dave Adams is an officer in the United States Navy. Adams commanded the USS Santa Fe (SSN-763), a nuclear submarine, in 2009. Previously he was in charge of the Khost Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan.
The Khost suicide bombing occurred on 12 July 2015 in Khost Province when a suicide bombing killed at least 33 people, including 12 children and another 10 people were wounded.
The October 2020 Afghanistan attacks were multiple attacks launched by insurgents including the Taliban and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province in October 2020. The attacks left at least 243 people dead and 339 injured. 10 perpetrators were also killed in these attacks.
Abdul Baqi Haqqani Bashir Mohammad, or Abdul Baqi Haqqani is an Afghan and senior member of the Taliban. He became acting Higher Education Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan following the Fall of Kabul in August 2021.
