Khost Province

{{pp|small=yes}} {{short description|Province of Afghanistan}} {{Infobox settlement | official_name = Khost | settlement_type = Province | image_skyline = Khost Mosque3498.jpg | image_alt = | image_caption = The Khost Mosque in Khost, the capital of Khost Province. | image_flag = | flag_alt = | image_seal = | seal_alt = | image_shield = | shield_alt = | nickname = | motto = | image_map = Khost in Afghanistan.svg | map_alt = | map_caption = Map of Afghanistan with Khost highlighted | pushpin_map = | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_map_caption = | coor_pinpoint = Capital | coordinates_footnotes = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Afghanistan | established_title = Established | established_date = 1986<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Ghost of Khost: What History Might Tell Us about the Future of Afghanistan > Air University (AU) > Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs Article Display |url=https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/JIPA/Display/Article/2891284/the-ghost-of-khost-what-history-might-tell-us-about-the-future-of-afghanistan/ |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=www.airuniversity.af.edu}}</ref>

(de facto) | founder = | seat_type = Capital | seat = Khost | government_footnotes = | leader_party = | leader_title = Governor | leader_name = Mohammad Nabi Omari<ref>{{Cite web|title=Taliban appoints former Guantanamo Bay detainee released under Obama to leadership post in Afghanistan|url=https://news.yahoo.com/taliban-appoints-former-guantanamo-bay-191849920.html|access-date=2021-09-19|website=news.yahoo.com|language=en-US}}</ref> | leader_title1 = Deputy Governor | leader_name1 = Mohammad Din Shah Mohabat<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mashaalradio.com/a/31455408.html|title=له پاکستانه د خوراکي توکو او درملو مرسته خوست ته ورسېده|website=مشال راډيو|date=11 September 2021 }}</ref> | leader_title2 = Police Chief | leader_name2 = Maulvi Mehboob Shah Qanat<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://8am.af/ps/in-khost-24-people-were-arrested-on-various-charges/|title=خوست کې د بېلابېلو جرمونو په تور ۲۴ کسان نيول شوي|date=December 6, 2021|access-date=December 13, 2021|archive-date=December 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213043040/https://8am.af/ps/in-khost-24-people-were-arrested-on-various-charges/|url-status=dead}}</ref> | unit_pref = Metric | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = 4235 | area_land_km2 = | area_water_km2 = | area_water_percent = | area_note = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | population_footnotes = <ref name=nsia/> | population_total = 647,730 | population_as_of = 2021 | population_density_km2 = auto | population_demonym = | population_note = | blank_name_sec1 = Main languages | blank_info_sec1 = Pashto | timezone1 = Afghanistan Time | utc_offset1 = +4:30 | timezone1_DST = | utc_offset1_DST = | postal_code_type = Postal code | postal_code = 25xx | area_code_type = | area_code = AF-KHO | iso_code = | website = | footnotes = | parts_type = Districts | p1 = 13 | parts_style = para | blank_name_sec2 = HDI (2019) | blank_info_sec2 = 0.506<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sub-national HDI - Subnational HDI - Global Data Lab|url=https://globaldatalab.org/shdi/shdi/AFG/?levels=1%2B4&interpolation=1&extrapolation=0&nearest_real=0&years=2019|access-date=|website=globaldatalab.org}}</ref> {{color|#900|low}} · 3rd | population_rank = 16th }} '''Khost''' (Pashto{{efn|{{IPA|ps|xost̪}}}}, Dari{{efn|{{IPA|prs|xoːst̪}}}}: خوست), 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. Historically, Khost used to be a part of Paktia and a larger region surrounding Khost is still referred to as Loya Paktia.

Throughout history, the province has been the site for numerous rebellions, leading to the local Pashtun populace to consider themselves the “traditional king-makers in Kabul”.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Giustozzi |first=Antonio |title=Decoding the New Taliban: Insights from the Afghan Field |year=2009 |isbn=9780231701129 |pages=76 |publisher=Columbia University Press |language=English}}</ref> The province was previously known as the Southern province and was united with the neighbouring Paktia province. Khost is also home to numerous universities, including Shaikh Zayed University, which is the only university in Afghanistan with a faculty in computer science.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Computer science Faculty {{!}} SZU University |url=https://www.szu.edu.af/index.php/en/history-computer-science-faculty |access-date=2022-04-13 |website=www.szu.edu.af}}</ref>

As of 2021, it was estimated that the population of the province stood at 647,730, which makes it the 16th most populated province in Afghanistan.<ref name=nsia/>

Khost International Airport began providing the province with international flights after it was inaugurated by the former president Ashraf Ghani on July 10, 2021.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kakar |first=Javed Hamim |date=2021-07-10 |title=Ghani inaugurates Khost International Airport |language=en-GB |url=https://pajhwok.com/2021/07/10/ghani-inaugurates-khost-international-airport/ |access-date=2022-04-13}}</ref>

To the east, Khost Province is bordered by the North Waziristan and Kurram districts of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. To the north, it is bordered by the Nangarhar. To the south, it is bordered by Paktika. To the west, it is bordered by Paktia.

==History== === Second Anglo-Afghan War === {{See also|Second Anglo-Afghan War}} thumb|Military engagement near Khost.

During the second Anglo-Afghan War, British forces led by Lord Roberts entered the province. Approximately 8,000 raiders from the Mangal tribe, which had a long tradition of resisting outside control, launched several attacks on weakly protected British supply convoys in Khost Province. In reprisal, Lord Roberts ordered his forces to attack eleven Mangal villages which had launched raids that murdered several camp followers, resulting in them being sacked and burnt. As the news of the reprisals spread over Britain, his political opponents in the British parliament criticized Lord Robert's actions. At the end of the conflict, British forces withdrew from the province.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Ghost of Khost: What History Might Tell Us about the Future of Afghanistan > Air University (AU) > Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs Article Display |url=https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/JIPA/Display/Article/2891284/the-ghost-of-khost-what-history-might-tell-us-about-the-future-of-afghanistan/ |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=www.airuniversity.af.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k647AwAAQBAJ&dq=khost+1880&pg=PT43 | title=Battle Story: Maiwand 1880 | isbn=9780752492551 | last1=Yorke | first1=Edmund | date=March 2013 | publisher=The History Press }}</ref>

=== Khost rebellion (1924–1925) === {{See also|Khost rebellion (1924-1925)}}thumb|Map of the Southern Province. In 1924, the province of Khost, then known as the Southern province, was the site of a rebellion against Emir Amanullah Khan by the Mangal tribe. The rebellion began in March 1924 when Mulla Abd Allah accused a local official of violating Sharia by forbidding a marriage in accordance with a new family law as the father of the bride in question had pledged her to another man whilst she was an infant. As a result, Mulla Abd Allah issued a fatwa against Amanullah Khan, condemning him as a kafir(infidel) and launching Jihad after a failed attempt was made by mediators to justify the new laws. The rebels were soon joined by the son of the former king Yaqub Khan, Abd-al Karim, who managed to escape British surveillance and moved to Khost, where he was crowned king by the rebels. Rebel forces then conquered the city of Gardez, which is adjacent to Khost. By late July, the rebels had captured Hisarak, which was 12 kilometres far from the capital, Kabul. However, the rebels didn’t try to seize the capital and instead returned to Khost, taking the spoils of war with them.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=L. Jonathan |title=Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present |year=2018 |isbn=9781789140101 |pages=476–477 |publisher=Reaktion Books |language=English}}</ref>

The Deobandi-trained council of ’ulama’ issued a fatwa denouncing Mulla Abd Allah as a rebel and began to provide Amanullah Khan with levies after he allowed them to alter the constitution so that it would align with their interpretation of Sharia. In August, Shah Wali Khan attacked the rebels in Logar whilst the Afghan Air Force were simultaneously bombing rebel positions. By early October, government forces had regained possession of the city of Gardez. Two months later, tribal leaders from Khost travelled to Kabul with the aim of initiating a peace process, only to be thrown in jail. Mulla Abd Allah, along with his three sons, were eventually captured and executed, and the rebellion was quelled in January 1925. Shah Wali Khan burned and looted more than 300 homes in Khost and brought 600 female captives back with him to Kabul, where they were distributed amongst the Mohammadzais as war booty.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=L. Jonathan |title=Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present |year=2018 |isbn=9781789140101 |pages=478–479 |language=English}}</ref> In the aftermath of the government’s victory, Amanullah Khan decided to construct a victory pillar in Kabul to commemorate his vanquishing of the rebels. The new pillar was meant to demonstrate the “triumph of knowledge over ignorance”.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tomsen |first=Peter |title=The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great Powers |year=2011 |isbn=9781610394123 |pages=73 |language=English}}</ref> === Soviet–Afghan War === {{See also|Soviet–Afghan War}} [[File:Afghanistan insurgency 1985.jpg|thumb|Map of the Mujahideen in 1985.]] In April 1978, the Communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan staged a coup d'état against the then president Mohammed Daoud Khan, ending the Republic of Afghanistan and establishing the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan under the rule of Nur Muhammad Taraki, who would later be overthrown and killed by Hafizullah Amin in 1979. The coup is also known as the Saur Revolution. In late 1978, a rebellion occurred in the remote region of Nuristan, but it didn't spread to the other parts of the country due to its isolation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roy |first=Oliver |title=Islam and Resistance in Afghanistan |publisher=Cambridge University Press; 2nd edition |date=November 30, 1990 |isbn=978-0521397001 |pages=84 and 101 |language=English}}</ref> The new communist government strived to eliminate illiteracy and implement agrarian reforms by sending literacy campaigners and agrarian reformers to various provinces, including Khost.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roy |first=Oliver |title=Islam and Resistance in Afghanistan |publisher=Cambridge University Press; 2nd edition |date=November 30, 1990 |isbn=978-0521397001 |pages=84 and 101 |language=English}}</ref> Following a rebellion by the Zadran tribe, a Pashtun tribe native to Loya Paktia, president Hafizullah Amin decided to launch a full scale military operation in Paktia. The operation was a "crushing defeat" and it, alongside the ousting of former President Taraki, was one of the reasons why the Soviets decided to intervene in December 1979, thus starting the Soviet–Afghan War.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roy |first=Oliver |title=Islam and Resistance in Afghanistan |publisher=Cambridge University Press; 2nd edition |date=November 30, 1990 |isbn=978-0521397001 |pages=102 |language=English}}</ref>

At the end of July 1983, the forces of Jalaluddin Haqqani laid siege to two towns in Khost and the Tani, Mangal, Zazai and Waziri tribes began taking an active part in the fighting, despite being passive up until then. All of the aforementioned events coincided with the appeal of former King Mohammed Zahir Shah for a united front, which caused rumours about the Royalists intending to establish a provisional government in a liberated Khost. However, Khost wasn't captured and by October, the Tani tribe had withdrawn from coalition due to a tribal rivalry with the Zadran. Many rebels also returned home as winter came on. By the end of December, government forces arriving from Gardez ended the siege of the two towns and recaputered Zazi Maidan.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roy |first=Oliver |title=Islam and resistance in Afghanistan |publisher=Cambridge University Press; 2nd edition |date=November 30, 1990 |isbn=978-0521397001 |pages=198 |language=English}}</ref>

Khost was considered a "bastion of the regime" during the Soviet–Afghan War and its loyalty to the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan allowed it to be granted a de facto provincial status in 1986. This provided the province with a force of paid provincial staff and an annual budget that was separate from the neighbouring provinces.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Ghost of Khost: What History Might Tell Us about the Future of Afghanistan > Air University (AU) > Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs Article Display |url=https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/JIPA/Display/Article/2891284/the-ghost-of-khost-what-history-might-tell-us-about-the-future-of-afghanistan/ |access-date=2022-03-28 |website=www.airuniversity.af.edu}}</ref> Khost was upgraded from a Loy Wuluswali (within Paktia) to a full province in 1985.<ref>[https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/20090224-HQN-as-autonomous-T-entity.pdf LOYA PAKTIA’S INSURGENCY: THE HAQQANI NETWORK AS AN AUTONOMOUS ENTITY]</ref>

===1993-present=== Khost Province saw the Battles of Zhawar and part of Operation Infinite Reach. Khost Province was captured by the Taliban during the 2021 Taliban offensive on August 15, 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-08-15 |title=The Latest: Militants take provincial capital of Khost |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/afghanistan-nato-american-istanbul-taliban-b1902843.html |access-date=2022-04-13 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>

On 16 April 2022, Pakistani airstrikes targeted several villages in Spera District, including Afghan-Dubai, Pasa Mela, Mir Sapar, Mandata, and Kanai, and struck refugee camps belonging to internally displaced persons from Waziristan, killing at least 41 people, mainly women and children, and wounding 22 others, according to the Taliban interim government. Pakistan claimed it struck TTP camps.<ref name="aj1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/17/afghanistan-death-toll-in-pakistan-strikes-rises-to-47-official|title=At least 47 dead in Afghanistan after Pakistan attacks: Officials|date=April 17, 2022|website=Al Jazeera}}</ref><ref name="pahj">{{Cite news|url=https://pajhwok.com/2022/04/16/casualties-as-pakistan-pounds-civilian-homes-in-khost-kunar/|title=Casualties as Pakistan pounds civilian homes in Khost, Kunar|first=Qazafi|last=Mal|date=April 16, 2022|via=pajhwok.com}}</ref><ref name="ds1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailysabah.com/world/mid-east/pakistani-rocket-fire-kills-45-afghans-say-taliban|title=Pakistani rocket fire kills 45 Afghans, say Taliban|date=April 16, 2022|website=Daily Sabah}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/ps/%D9%BE%D9%87-%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%AA-%DA%A9%DB%90-%D8%AF-%D9%BE%D8%A7%DA%A9%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D8%AA%DA%A9%D9%88-%D8%A8%D9%85%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8D-%D8%AF%D8%B1%D9%86%D9%87-%D9%85%D8%B1%DA%AB-%DA%98%D9%88%D8%A8%D9%84%D9%87-%D8%A7%DA%93%D9%88%D9%84%DB%90/a-61494373|title=په خوست کې د پاکستاني الوتکو بمبارۍ درنه مرګ ژوبله اړولې|website=Deutsche Welle|date=April 16, 2022|language=ps}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-pakistan-air-strikes/31806250.html|title=Witnesses Say Dozens Killed In Pakistani Air Strikes On Eastern Afghanistan Region|website=RFE/RL|date=April 16, 2022}}</ref>

On 22 June 2022, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck the province. In Spera District, approximately 500 homes were destroyed, and 40 people were killed, with 95 others injured.<ref name="Padshah1">{{cite news |last1=Padshah |first1=Safiullah |last2=Ives |first2=Mike |title=Afghanistan Live Updates: At Least 1,000 Killed in Earthquake, Official Media Says: The quake struck 28 miles southwest of the provincial capital of Khost. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/06/22/world/afghanistan-earthquake/afghanistan-earthquake-khost?smid=url-share |access-date=22 June 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=22 June 2022 |archive-date=22 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622130109/https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/06/22/world/afghanistan-earthquake/afghanistan-earthquake-khost?smid=url-share |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Mangal">{{cite news |last1=Mangal |first1=Farooq Jan |title=Afghanistan earthquake survivors dig by hand as aid is delayed |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/23/afghanistan-earthquake-survivors-dig-by-hand-as-aid-is-delayed |access-date=23 June 2022 |work=Al Jazeera |date=23 June 2022 |archive-date=23 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220623083006/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/23/afghanistan-earthquake-survivors-dig-by-hand-as-aid-is-delayed |url-status=live }}</ref> Many houses constructed primarily of mud and wood were razed to the ground.<ref name="Padshah1" /> Heavy rain and the earthquake contributed to landslides that destroyed entire hamlets.<ref name="TNA1">{{cite news |title=Thousands of Afghanistan earthquake survivors remain without food and shelter despite aid coming in |url=https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/afghan-quake-survivors-without-food-despite-aid-coming |access-date=25 June 2022 |work=The New Arab |date=25 June 2022 |archive-date=25 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625014052/https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/afghan-quake-survivors-without-food-despite-aid-coming |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Geography== Khost Province is traversed by the Kurram River, which rises from the Rokian Defile, passes through the district, and then enters the "country of the Turis or the Kurram Valley".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=bxi2AAAAIAAJ&q=%22khost+district%22 Imperial gazetteer of India: provincial series, Volume 20]. Publisher Supt. of Govt. Print., 1908</ref>

==Administrative divisions== 250px|thumb|Map of the districts of Khost as of January 2004, prior to the redrawing of provincial and district boundaries later that year {| class="wikitable sortable" |+ Districts of Khost Province |- !District !Capital !Population !Area in km2 !Pop. density !Ethnic groups |- |Bak || || 24,977 || 139 || 180 ||>99% Pashtun. |- |Gurbuz || || 29,627 || 379 || 78 || >99% Pashtun. |- |Jaji Maydan || || 27,236 || 331 || 82 || >99% Pashtun. |- |Khost || Khost || 156,106 || 418 || 373 || Predominantly Pashtun, few Tajiks. |- |Mandozayi || || 63,772 || 128 || 498 || >99% Pashtun. |- |Musa Khel || || 46,368 || 470 || 99 || >99% Pashtun. |- |Nadir Shah Kot || || 36,005 || 381 || 94 || >99% Pashtun. |- |Qalandar || || 11,559 || 100 || 116 || >99% Pashtun. |- |Sabari || || 80,114 || 259 || 310 ||>99% Pashtun. |- |Shamal || || 15,411 || 169 || 91 || >99% Pashtun. |- |Spera || || 27,501 || 499 || 55 || >99% Pashtun. |- |Tani || || 67,360 || 410 || 164 || >99% Pashtun. |- |Tirazayi || || 50,486 || 427 || 118 || >99% Pashtun. |- bgcolor="#d3d3d3" |'''Khost''' | |'''636,522''' |'''4,235''' |'''150''' |99.8% Pashtuns, 0.2% Tajiks.{{refn|group=note|Note: "Predominantely" or "dominated" is interpreted as 99%, "majority" as 70%, "mixed" as 1/(number of ethnicities), "minority" as 30% and "few" or "some" as 1%.}} |} {{reflist|group=note}}

== Demographics == {{Further|Demography of Afghanistan}} thumb|Districts of Khost and surrounding areas. ===Population=== As of 2021, the population of the province is around 950,000 people.<ref name=nsia>{{cite web |url=https://www.nsia.gov.af:8080/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Estimated-Population-of-Afghanistan1-1400.pdf |title=Estimated Population of Afghanistan 2021-22 |date=April 2021 |website=nsia.gov.af |publisher=National Statistic and Information Authority (NSIA) |access-date=June 30, 2021 |archive-date=June 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624204559/https://www.nsia.gov.af:8080/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Estimated-Population-of-Afghanistan1-1400.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=cso>{{cite web |url=http://cso.gov.af/Content/files/Khost(1).pdf |title=Settled Population of Khost province by Civil Division, Urban, Rural and Sex-2012-13 |publisher=Islamic Republic of Afghanistan: Central Statistics Organization |access-date=2014-01-18 |archive-date=2014-02-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201115819/http://cso.gov.af/Content/files/Khost(1).pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Other sources put the number at over a million.<ref>{{YouTube|7yrtmpr6Q9A|On the Road - Khost Province Season 1 (Pashto)}}, Feb 13, 2012, TOLO/USAIDAfghanistan.</ref>

===Ethnicity, languages and religion=== The Pashtun people make up 99% of the population, with the remaining 1% being Tajiks and others.<ref name="nps" />

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; table-layout:fixed; width:100%; margin:0" |+ Estimated ethnolinguistic and -religious composition ! style="width:7.5em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | Ethnicity ! rowspan="2" style="width:4.6em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | Pashtun ! rowspan="2" style="width:4.6em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | Tajik/ Farsiwan ! rowspan="2" style="width:4.6em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | Others ! rowspan="2" style="width:3em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | ''Sources'' |- ! style="width:7.5em; background-color:#ddf;" | Period |} {| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align:center; table-layout:fixed; width:100%; margin:0" |- style="background-color:#e6f2ff;" ! style="width:7.5em; background-color:#ddf;" | 2004–2021 (Islamic Republic) | style="width:4.6em;" | 99% | style="width:4.6em;" | ≤1% | style="width:4.6em;" | <1% | style="width:3em;" | |-style="background-color:#E6E6E6;" | 2020 EU<ref>{{cite web |date=2020 |title=Country Guidance: Afghanistan. Common analysis and guidance note |url=https://www.euaa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/Country_Guidance_Afghanistan_2020_0.pdf |publisher=European Union Agency for Asylum |access-date=25 November 2025}}</ref> || majority || 1% || – |-style="background-color:#E6E6E6;" | 2018 UN<ref name="unama">{{cite web |last=Ramizpoor |date=2018 |title=Afghan People's Dialogue on Peace: Local Road Maps for Peace – Kabul and Surrounding Provinces |url=https://unama.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/afghan_peoples_dialogue_34_roadmaps_on_peace_english.pdf |publisher=United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan |access-date=25 November 2025}}</ref> |overwhelming majority{{efn|name="k"|excl. Kochi.}} |colspan="2" | small minority |-style="background-color:#FFFFFF;" | 2017 CSSF{{efn|Demographic information is based on data from 2017.}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=State of Families CSSF Report: Kandahar, Afghanistan|url=https://profajames.com/state-of-families-cssf-report-kandahar-afghanistan-2024/ |date=2024-02-22 |access-date=2025-11-25 }}</ref> || 99% || 1% || <1%{{efn|incl. Hazara, Uzbek, and Turkmen.}} |-style="background-color:#E6E6E6;" | 2015 CP<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kandahar Province - Afghanistan National Drug Use Survey |url=https://www.colombo-plan.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Afghanistan-National-Drug-Use-Survey-2015-compressed.pdf |access-date=13 December 2025 }}</ref> || 99% || 1% || – |-style="background-color:#FFFFFF;" | 2015 NPS<ref name="nps">{{Cite web |title=Kandahar - Program for Culture and Conflict Studies - Naval Postgraduate School |url=https://nps.edu/web/ccs/kandahar |access-date=26 April 2024 |website=nps.edu}}</ref> |99% |colspan="2"| 1% |-style="background-color:#E6E6E6;" | 2011 PRT<ref>{{Cite web |title=Afghanistan Provincial Reconstruction Team|url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA550604.pdf |date=February 2011 |access-date=2025-11-25 }}</ref> || 99%{{efn|name="k"}} || 0.2% || – |-style="background-color:#FFFFFF;" | 2011 USA<ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Army Afghanistan Smart Book, Third Edition |url=https://info.publicintelligence.net/AfghanSmartBook.pdf |date=January 2011 |access-date=15 December 2025}}</ref> || 99% || – || – |-style="background-color:#FFFFFF;" | 2009 ISW<ref>{{Cite web |title=Regional Command South |url=https://understandingwar.org/research/middle-east/regional-command-south/ |access-date=April 15, 2009}}</ref> |overwhelming majority |colspan="2"| small minority |} {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left; table-layout:fixed; margin:0" | '''Legend:''' <ul style="margin:0; padding-left:1.2em; list-style-position:inside;"> <li>'''∅:''' Ethnicity mentioned in source but not quantified</li> <li>'''–:''' Ethnicity not mentioned specifically</li> <li>'''Source abbreviations:''' {{font color|bg=#CCCCCC|text=Empirical sources: –}}, {{font color|bg=#E6E6E6|text=Government sources: CP – Colombo Plan, EU – European Union Agency for Asylum, PRT – Provincial Reconstruction Team of the United States government, UN – United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan}}, {{font color|bg=#FFFFFF|text=Editorial sources: CSSF – Center for the Scientific Study of Families, ISW – Institute for the Study of War, NPS – Naval Postgraduate School, USA – United States Army}}</li> </ul> |}

===Education=== {{Further|Education in Afghanistan}} The overall literacy rate (6+ years of age) fell from 28% in 2005 to 15% in 2011.<ref name="cimicweb.org"/> The overall net enrolment rate (6–13 years of age) fell from 38% in 2005 to 37% in 2011.<ref name="cimicweb.org"/>

{{See Also| List of universities in Afghanistan}} [[File:SZU picture khost.jpg|thumb|Image of Shaikh Zayed University.]] There are multiple universities in Khost, the following list consists of all of the universities that can be found in the province:

*Shaikh Zayed University - Initially opened in Peshawar, Pakistan in 2000, the university was moved to Khost on orders of the former president Hamid Karzai. The university bears the name of the first president of the United Arab Emirates, Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan who sponsored the construction of its campus in Khost.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}} *Pamir University - Situated in the capital of Khost province, the university is a private higher education institute which was inaugurated on April 24, 2011. *Hara University - Private university that’s also situated in the city of Khost.

===Health=== {{Further|Health in Afghanistan}} The percentage of households with clean drinking water increased from 34% in 2005 to 35% in 2011.<ref name="cimicweb.org">Archive, Civil Military Fusion Centre, https://www.cimicweb.org/AfghanistanProvincialMap/Pages/Khost.aspx {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531105256/https://www.cimicweb.org/AfghanistanProvincialMap/Pages/Khost.aspx |date=2014-05-31 }}</ref> The percentage of births attended to by a skilled birth attendant increased from 18% in 2005 to 32% in 2011.<ref name="cimicweb.org"/>

thumb|225px|Districts of Khost

==Culture== [[File:Afghan serving lunch to US Marines in Khowst Afghanistan.jpg|thumb|175px|A men from Khost serving lunch to U.S. marines]] ==Gallery== <gallery> File:View of Khost, Afghanistan.jpg|Khost, the capital of Khost province File:Afghan children in Khost Province.jpg| Children in Khost </gallery>

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{reflist|2}} * ''Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire'', by Chalmers Johnson, {{ISBN|0-8050-6239-4}} * "Ghost Wars"

==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{YouTube|5XdUDrj97KE|Travel}}, November 12, 2015, Shamshad TV. * {{YouTube|7yrtmpr6Q9A|On the Road - Khost Province Season 1 (Pashto)}}, Feb 13, 2012, TOLO/USAIDAfghanistan. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20071017023701/http://www.nps.edu/programs/ccs/Khost.html Khost Province] by the Naval Postgraduate School * [http://www.understandingwar.org/region/regional-command-east#Khost Khost Province] by the Institute for the Study of War

{{Geographic location |Centre = Khost Province |North = |Northeast = |East = Federally Administered Tribal Areas, {{flag|Pakistan}} |Southeast = |South = |Southwest = Paktika Province |West = |Northwest = Paktia Province }}

Category:Khost Province Category:Provinces of Afghanistan Category:Provinces of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Category:States and territories established in 1986 Category:1986 establishments in Afghanistan