Kot-e Ashro explained

Official Name:Kot-e Ashro
Native Name:کوټه عښرو
Settlement Type:Town
Pushpin Map:Afghanistan
Pushpin Label Position:bottom
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Afghanistan
Pushpin Mapsize:300
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: Afghanistan
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Name1:Maidan Wardak
Subdivision Type2:District
Subdivision Name2:Jalrez
Coordinates:34.4492°N 68.7939°W

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, Maidan Wardak Province, Afghanistan. It was formerly the district capital until it was taken by the Taliban in 2006. The town lies along the Kabul–Behsud Highway, by road northwest of Maidan Shar.[1]

History

During the Soviet–Afghan War it was a stronghold of the mujahideen.[2] 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.[3]

In 2006, the Taliban captured the town, and it ceased to be the capital of Jalrez district.[4]

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.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Jalrez. Google Maps, Google. 30 April 2020.
  2. Web site: Infantry, Volume 93, Issue 4. 50–1. 2004.
  3. Web site: Syed Shabbir Hussain . Absar Hussain Rizvi . Afghanistan Whose War?. el-Mashriqi Foundation . 1987. 98.
  4. Web site: One Land, Two Rules (9): Delivering public services in insurgency-affected Jalrez district of Wardak province. Afghan Analysts Network. 16 December 2019. 30 April 2020.
  5. Web site: The Beheadings in Jalrez. Afghanistan Daily Outlook. 4 August 2012. 30 April 2020.