Mountains in Afghanistan

The Hindu Kush mountain range reaches a height of 7,492 m (24,580 ft) at Noshaq, Afghanistan's highest peak. Of the ranges extending southwestward from the Hindu Kush, the Foladi peak (Shah Foladi) of the Baba mountain range (Koh-i-Baba) reaches the greatest height: 5,142 m (16,870 ft). The Safed Koh range, which includes the Tora Bora area, dominates the border area southeast of Kabul.

Snow-covered Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan

Important passes include the Unai Pass across the Safed Koh, the Kushan and Salang Passes through the Hindu Kush, and the Khyber Pass that connects Afghanistan with Pakistan. The summit of the Khyber Pass at 1,070 m (3,510 ft) at Landi Kotal, Pakistan is 5 km (3 mi) east of the border town of Torkham. Other key passages through the mountainous Pakistan border include two from Paktika Province into Pakistan's Waziristan region: one at Angoor Ada, and one further south at the Gumal River crossing, plus the Charkai River passage south of Khost, Afghanistan, at Pakistan's Ghulam Khan village into North Waziristan. The busy Pak-Afghan border crossing at Wesh, Afghanistan is in a flat and dry area, though this route involves Pakistan's Khojak Pass at 2,707 m (8,881 ft) just 14 km (9 mi) from the border. The border connects Kandahar and Spin Boldak in Afghanistan with Quetta in Pakistan.

Snow-covered Koh-i-Baba mountains in Bamyan Province.

The Wakhan Corridor in the northeast lies eastward of the province of Panjshir, between the Hindu Kush and the Pamir Mountains, which leads to the Wakhjir Pass into Xinjiang in China. In Kabul, and over all the northern part of the country to the descent at Gandamak, winter is rigorous, especially so on the high Arachosian plateau.

Snow-covered mountains in Paktia Province.

Although Herat is approximately 240 m (787 ft) lower than Kandahar, the summer climate there is more temperate along with the yearly climate. From May to September, the wind blows from the northwest with great force, and this extends across the country to Kandahar. The winter is mild; snow melts as it falls, and even on the mountains does not lie long. Three years out of four at Herat it does not freeze hard enough for the people to store ice. Yet, it was not very far from Herat, in Rafir Kala, in 1750, where Ahmad Shah's army, retreating from Persia, is said to have lost 18,000 men from cold in a single night. In the northern Herat districts records of the coldest month (February) show the mean minimum as −8 °C (18 °F) and the maximum as 3 °C (37 °F). The eastern reaches of the Hari River, including the rapids, are frozen hard in the winter, and people travel on it as on a road.