Shah i Kot Valley

The Shah-i-Kot Valley (also Shahi-Kot, Shah-e-Kot and other variant spellings) is a valley located in Afghanistan's Paktia Province, southeast of the town of Zormat. The terrain in and around the valley is notoriously rugged, located at a mean altitude of 9,000 feet (2,700 m). Shah-i-Kot means "Place of the King" and it has historically been a redoubt for Afghan guerrillas hiding from foreign invaders. The area was the scene of fierce fighting between the Afghan mujahideen rebels and Soviet forces during the Afghan-Soviet War, as the battle for Hill 3234.

Locals says the valley has been named Shah-i-Kot after Alexander the Great invaded the region and the exile king of the time has escaped to the valley with all tribal elders of the kingdom, the king has gathered and hired new soldiers to attack on romans in Gardiz, the exiled king moved his forces to (KWASH mountain) کوښ غر and the battle has happened near by the mentioned mountain, KWASH mountain been named after the battle happened, KWASH has changed from the word GWAASH ګواښ یا ګواش which mean warning.

It was also the scene of what was then the largest battle of the U.S.-Afghan War to date. The Battle of Shah-i-Kot took place during Operation Anaconda, which began on 2 March 2002.