Khost or Khowst (Pashto/Persian: خوست) is a city in eastern Afghanistan. It is the capital of Khost Province, which is a mountainous region near Afghanistan's border with neighboring Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Bannu in Pakistan. The population of Khost City is about 160,000 people and the whole province has around a million.
During the nine-year Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s, the town was besieged from July 1983 to November 1987. Khost Airfield, with its 9,000-foot (2,700 m) runway, served as a base for helicopter operations for the Soviet military.
American forces have used the Khost Airfield since as early as at least January 2007 during the War in Afghanistan (2001–present) that commenced in October 2001.
Khost is the home of Khost University. The inhabitants of area are Pashto-speaking ethnic Pashtuns. Khost Mosque serves as the main mosque in the city.