The Salang Tunnel ( ''Tūnel-e Sālang'', ''Da Sālang Tūnel'') is a

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

located at the Salang Pass in northern

Parwan Province Parwan also spelled Parvan () is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It is the largest province of the Greater Parwan region and has a population of about 751,000. The province is multi-ethnic and mostly rural society. The province is divid ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, about north of the nation's capital,

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

. At nearly above sea level, the tunnel work was originally completed by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1964. The Salang Tunnel is of strategic importance as it connects by road

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

with

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

, and is the only pass going in a north–south direction to remain in use throughout the year, although it is often closed during the cold winters by heavy snowfall. In 2023, major construction work was done inside and outside the tunnel.

Overview

The tunnel represents the major north–south connection in Afghanistan, cutting travel time from 72 hours to 10 hours and saving about . It reaches an altitude of about and is long. The width and height of the tunnel tube are . Other sources say that the tunnel is no more than wide at the base and high, but only in the centre. It was noted in 2010 that about 16,000 vehicles pass through the Salang Tunnel daily. Other reports say that the tunnel was designed for 1,000 vehicles a day, but is now handling seven to ten thousand vehicles a day. It forms part of Highway 1 (Ring Road).

History

In 1955, Afghanistan and the

signed an agreement to initiate joint development of the Salang road, initially via the historic Salang Pass route. The tunnel was opened in 1964 and provided a year-round connection from the northern parts of the country to

. The tunnel was the highest road tunnel in the world until 1973, when the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

built the Eisenhower Tunnel — just slightly higher and slightly longer — in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

. A ventilation system was built in 1976. During the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...

, the tunnel was a crucial military link to the south, yet was prone to ambushes by the

Afghan mujahideen The Afghan ''mujahideen'' (; ; ) were Islamist militant groups that fought against the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the Soviet Union during the Soviet–Afghan War and the subsequent Afghan Civil War (1989–1992), First Afghan Ci ...

fighters. After the 1989

Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan Pursuant to the Geneva Accords of 14 April 1988, the Soviet Union conducted a total military withdrawal from Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, Afghanistan between 15 May 1988 and 15 February 1989. Headed by the Soviet military officer Boris ...

, maintenance suffered, and eventually, in the course of combat between the

Northern Alliance The Northern Alliance ( ''Da Šumāl E'tilāf'' or ''Ettehād Šumāl''), officially known as the United National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( ''Jabha-ye Muttahid-e barāye Afğānistān''), was a military alliance of groups that op ...

and the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

in 1997–1998, the tunnel's entrances, lighting and ventilation system were destroyed, so that it could only be transited by foot in the dark. After the overthrow of the Taliban-led government in the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan, a joint effort of agencies from Afghanistan, France, Russia, the United States and others cleared the mines and debris and reopened the tunnel on January 19, 2002. In the early 2010s it was still receiving

ISAF The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 according to the Bonn Agreement, which outlined t ...

funding for repair and renovation. In 2012, the United States Agency for International Development (

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 19 ...

) made a technical study for a new tunnel reaching from the Olang region in Parwan province (about 6km south) to DoShakh in Baghlan province (about 10km north), going through the mountains of the Hindu Kush, further than the current tunnel. The design shortened travel distance by .

Incidents

1980 accident

On February 23, 1980 as a result of a road collision, a

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

convoy was trapped and 16 of its servicemen suffocated from exhaust gases.

1982 fire

On November 3, 1982 a deadly fire killed an estimated 64 Soviet soldiers and 112 Afghans based on Soviet sources; apparently after a collision, a tanker truck blew up in the tunnel, and the fire engulfed a military convoy. Western sources estimate as many as 2,700-3,000 fatalities.

2002 avalanche

Several weeks after reopening several hundred people were trapped in the tunnel due to an

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a Grade (slope), slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, othe ...

at its southern end. While most people were rescued, some died from asphyxiation and freezing. After further rehabilitation in July 2004, the tunnel could carry two-way traffic.

2009 avalanches

Avalanches in the approach to the tunnel killed at least ten people in January 2009.

2010 avalanches

On February 8, 2010, a series of at least seventeen avalanches struck the area around the tunnel, burying miles of road, killing 175 people and stranding hundreds more. Hundreds of cars were buried in the snow. At least 400 injuries were reported. The

Afghan National Army The Islamic National Army (, ), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the army, land force branch of the Afghan Armed Forces. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be traced back to the early 18th century when th ...

and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

used their helicopters to rescue at least 2,500 people who were trapped inside their vehicles. The avalanches were caused by a sudden blizzard that struck the area, closing the tunnel and the roads around it on both side of the tunnel. The tunnel was reopened on February 12, 2010.

2022 fire

On 18 December 2022, a fuel tanker exploded, killing at least 31 people and injuring 37 others.

References

External links

* * {{YouTube, FUQ7HrVapZk, The reconstruction project of the world's most dangerous tunnel in Afghanistan. 1964 establishments in Afghanistan Afghanistan–Soviet Union relations Road tunnels Roads in Afghanistan Soviet foreign aid Tunnels completed in 1964 Tunnels in Afghanistan