Салаң тоннелі: Ауғанстанның солтүстік қақпасы

Road tunnel in northern Afghanistan

The Salang Tunnel ( Tūnel e Sālang, Da Sālang Tūnel) is a tunnel located at the Salang Pass in northern Parwan Province of Afghanistan, about north of the nation's capital, Kabul. At nearly above sea level, the tunnel work was originally completed by the Soviet Union in 1964. The Salang Tunnel is of strategic importance as it connects by road Central Asia with South Asia, and is the only pass going in a north–south direction to remain in use throughout the year, although it is often closed during the cold winters by heavy snowfall. In 2023, major construction work was done inside and outside the tunnel.

The tunnel represents the major north–south connection in Afghanistan, cutting travel time from 72 hours to 10 hours and saving about It reaches an altitude of about and is long. The width and height of the tunnel tube are Other sources say that the tunnel is no more than 20 feet (6 m) wide at the base and 16 feet (5 m) high, but only in the centre. It was noted in 2010 that about 16,000 vehicles pass through the Salang Tunnel daily. Other reports say that the tunnel was designed for 1,000 vehicles a day, but is now handling seven to ten thousand vehicles a day. In the early 2010s it was still receiving ISAF funding for repair and renovation. In 2012, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) made a technical study for a new tunnel reaching from the Olang region in Parwan province (about 6km south) to DoShakh in Baghlan province (about 10km north), going through the mountains of the Hindu Kush, further than the current tunnel. The design shortened travel distance by .

On February 23, 1980 as a result of a road traffic accident, a Soviet Army convoy was trapped and 16 of its servicemen suffocated from exhaust gases.

On November 3, 1982 a deadly fire killed an estimated 64 Soviet soldiers and 112 Afghans based on Soviet sources; apparently after a collision, a tanker truck blew up in the tunnel, and the fire engulfed a military convoy. Western sources estimate as many as 2,700 3,000 fatalities.

Several weeks after reopening several hundred people were trapped in the tunnel due to an avalanche at its southern end. While most people were rescued, some died from asphyxiation and freezing. After further rehabilitation in July 2004, the tunnel could carry two way traffic.

Avalanches in the approach to the tunnel killed at least ten people in January 2009.

On February 8, 2010, a series of at least seventeen avalanches struck the area around the tunnel, burying miles of road, killing 175 people and stranding hundreds more. Hundreds of cars were buried in the snow. The Afghan National Army and NATO used their helicopters to rescue at least 2,500 people who were trapped inside their vehicles. The tunnel was reopened on February 12, 2010.

On 18 December 2022, a fuel tanker exploded, killing at least 31 people and injuring 37 others.