Puli Khumri

Puli Khumri has a number of factories, bazaars, business centers, public parks, banks, hotels, restaurants, mosques, hospitals, universities, and places to play sports or just relax. It is home to Baghlan University. The Ghori cement factory is also in Puli Khumri. In 2015 there were 24,586 dwelling units in the city.

Puli Khumri sits at an elevation of approximately 920 m (3,020 ft) above sea level in the Hindu Kush mountain range. The city is administratively divided into six districts (nahias), covering a land area of 181 km² (70 sq mi). It is connected by the Afghanistan Ring Road with Kunduz to the north, Charikar in Parwan Province to the southeast, and Mazar-i-Sharif in Balkh Province to the northwest.

History

During the 1980s, Puli Khumri was officially granted the status of the capital of Baghlan province in place of the central city of Baghlan. This transition occurred under the influence of Sayed Mansur Naderi, son of Sayed Kayan, who held significant military and political power at the time. The relocation aimed to enhance public access to administrative offices, leveraging Puli Khumri's strategic location along the Kabul-Mazar highway. The cabinet of Mohammad Najibullah, led by Sultan Ali Keshtmand, initially proposed this move through declaration number 492 on March 1, 1989. It was subsequently formalized by Najibullah through decree number 1603 on March 9, 1989.

From August 8–10, 1988, there were fires and explosions in the 3704th Ammunition Depot of the 40th Army (Soviet Union), located in the Kelgai Valley near the town. The detonation of the explosives storage facility, according to eyewitnesses, resembled a nuclear one with the appearance of a characteristic nuclear "mushroom cloud". Eight soldiers and one civilian cook may have been killed, with others wounded. Western sources reported that the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Soviet Union) denied there had been any casualties.

The lead nation of the local Provincial Reconstruction Team was Hungary, which operated in the city from 2006 to March 2013. Previous to 2006, the lead nation was the Netherlands.

Taliban insurgents have been active in the Dand-e-Shahabuddin part of Puli Khumri since 2017. On 5 May 2019, Taliban members stormed the city's police headquarters, killing 13 police. On 1 September 2019, Taliban assaulted the city, but were repelled by the Afghan Army. On 16 January 2021, the district's NDS chief Fazal Wakilzada was killed in a Taliban attack.

On 10 August 2021, Puli Khumri became the eighth provincial capital to be captured by the Taliban as part of their nationwide military offensive. On 13 October 2023, 7 people were killed and 15 injured in a suicide bombing at a Shia mosque carried out by Islamic State – Khorasan Province.