Eastern Afghanistan - Program for Culture and Conflict Studies
Eastern Afghanistan
The East of Afghanistan borders with Pakistan and is a major part of the Pashtun homeland whose tribal influence stretches into Western Pakistan. Jalalabad, the capital of the Nangahar Province lies half way between Torkhum (end of Khyber pass and Kabul) is the major Afghan city in the east and is considered the gateway into Afghanistan from the Khyber Pass. Beautiful peaks and valleys (often extremely isolated) dominate the region with especially magnificent woods and slopes in the remote province of Nuristan.
The flat land areas of Eastern Afghanistan are primarily hot and dry in the summer and the winters are cool, but in the mountains the temperatures can fall below freezing and snowfalls on the high peaks of the area.
The Taliban insurgency has been ripe in the east for years and much of the region is regarded as non-permissive.