Safed Koh,Oxford dictionary, 2014Garren, William R., and Carl R. Page. 1987. Gazetteer of Pakistan: official standard names approved by the United States Board on Geographic Names. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Information Service. p.578 also known as Spin Ghar,Safīd Mountain Range in Encyclopædia Britannica, 2009defect link: CIA document is a mountain range to the south of the Hindu Kush.Safīd Mountain Range in: Universalium, 2010 It stretches from eastern Afghanistan to northwestern Pakistan, and forms a natural border between the two countries.

Its highest peak is Mount Sikaram on the Afghanistan–Pakistan border, which towers above all surrounding hills to above mean sea level.defense.gov

Etymology The Pashto "Spīn Ghar" and Dari Persian 'Safēd Kōh' both literally mean 'White Mountains'.

Geography

The range extends from the Peshawar Valley in Pakistan in the east about 160 kilometers west to the Logar Valley in Afghanistan. The Kabul River cuts a narrow trough through Safed Koh to flow eastward into the Indus River. The range connects directly with the Shandur Pass offshoot of the Hindu Kush mountain system.The highest peak is Mount Sikaram, near the Pakistani town of Parachinar in the Kurram Valley. From here it passes to Tari Mangal, Pewar, Alizai, Khewas, Shilawzan, Luqman Khel, Maikay, Chappri Rest House, Zeran, and Landi Kotal Tehsil. The Safed Koh mountains form the watershed between the river systems of the Kabul and Kurram.The closest cities to Safed Koh are Jalalabad to the north; Gardez to the west; and Khost, and Parachinar in Pakistan to the south.

The range between Herat in the west and Chaghcharan in the east is called Paropamisus Mountains.Physical map of Afghanistan, University of TexasPhysical map of Afghanistan, www.ezilon.comgeographic.orgParopamisus in The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.

Geology The Safed Koh mountains are part of the western rim that separates the Indian subcontinent from the Eurasian Plate.

The base of the mountains consists of Proterozoic gneisses and granites with admixtures of gabbros, mafic metavolcanic rocks, marble and migmatites. On the summit there are cirque glaciers, some of which are filled with scree.John F. Shroder: Natural Resources in Afghanistan. Amsterdam u. a. 2014, S. 73–74 Vorschau. R. G. Bohanon, K. J. Turner: Geologic Map, AGS Open-File Report (509/510) 2005-1107-A. R. G. Bohanon, K. J. Turner: Geologic Map, AGS Open-File Report (511/512/517) 2005-1108-A

On the southern flank of the Sikaram Sar follow from 2500 m from bottom to top: alluvial soils in valleys, limestone and dolomite up to 4000 m, an intermediate zone of slate at 4000 m, above crystalline rock.Siegmar W. Breckle: Ökologische Beobachtungen oberhalb der Waldgrenze des Safed Koh (Ost-Afghanistan). In: Vegetatio. 30,2 (1975), S. 89–97, hier S. 93 online

Fauna A 20,000 hectare biotope in the southwest of Safed Koh is listed as an important bird area in Afghanistan.Biodiversity Profile of Afghanistan, United Nations Environment Programme, 2008 , S. 29 The lower hills are mostly barren and treeless, but pine grows on the main mountains that form the East Afghan montane conifer forests.

Agriculture and forestry Above the nearly barren lower slopes, forests of pine and deodar cedar thrived on the main range, but devastation during the Afghan civil wars reduced timber resources. The valleys still support some agriculture.

The rivers of Safed Koh serve the irrigation of the fields in the densely populated river valleys,Vgl. Karten der bewässerten Gebiete und der Bevölkerungsdichte in Stephen G. Peter et al.: Summaries of Important Areas for Mineral Investment and Production Opportunities of Nonfuel Minerals in Afghanistan. 2011, S. 1440–1441 20 B which allows the pelvis of Jalalabad multiple harvests. Wheat, maize, various types of vegetables (onions, green beans, okra, tomatoes, etc.), cotton, opium poppies, lemons, sugar cane, and olives are also grown around Jalalabad.David Mansfield: All Bets are Off! Prospects for (B)reaching Agreements and Drug Control in Helmand and Nangarhar in the run up to Transition. 2013, S. 27. David Mansfield: “From Bad They Made It Worse” The concentration of opium poppy in areas of conflict in the provinces of Helmand and Nangarhar. 2014Raphy Favre u. a.: Watershed Atlas of Afghanistan. Part III, Kabul 2004, S. 96 online The Bara high valley in the southeast of the range is one of the most intensively used agricultural areas of the Pakistani tribal areas under Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Older reports speak of rich orchards in the valleys of Safed Koh with mulberry and pomegranate trees.

Wood from the eastern Afghan forests has been exported mainly to Pakistan since the 19th century, and in increasingly irresponsible quantities, so that Afghanistan imposed a complete export ban in 1975, which smugglers circumvented.Xavier de Planhol: Afghanistan XIII. Forests and Forestry. Encyclopædia Iranica OnlineDaniel Balland: Boundaries III. Boundaries of Afghanistan. Encyclopædia Iranica Online In addition to the actual forestry there is or was a collection economy for pistachio nuts and the edible seeds of Pinus gerardiana.Erwin Grötzbach: Afghanistan. Darmstadt 1990, S. 122

Passes

There are a few notable mountain passes in or near the Safed Koh mountain range. The famous Khyber Pass crosses a spur of Safed Koh. A second crossing, near Mount Sikaram, is called Peiwar Pass or Gawi Pass and connects Parachinar city on the Pakistani side with the Aryob Valley of Paktia Province, Afghanistan. The most viable route over the main ridge of Safed Koh is the Agam Pass (3586 m), over which the distance from Jalalabad to Parachinar is 92 km.Ludwig W. Adamec (Hrsg.): Historical and political gazetteer of Afghanistan. Vol. 6, Graz 1985, S. 16 online

History The Durand Line border formed in 1893 between Afghanistan and British India cuts through these mountains.

According to US military intelligence, many al-Qaeda fighters, including Osama bin Laden, crossed Safed Koh to escape to Pakistan during the Tora Bora offensive in 2001. Bin Laden allegedly hid in the sparsely vegetated mountains in the northern part, called Tora Bora. After 2004, the Safed Koh mountain range was a pivotal place and theater of many battles fought between the foreign fighters of al-Qaeda and the joint Northern Command of the Pakistani military, with the latter trying to prevent the foreign fighters' incursion into Pakistan.

See also List of mountain ranges List of highest mountains Koh-i-Baba

Notes

References