Qala-i-Jangi

It is known for being the site of a bloody 2001 Taliban uprising named the Battle of Qala-i-Jangi, in which at least 470 people were killed, including CIA agent Johnny "Mike" Spann.

Qala-i-Jangi served as Northern Alliance warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum's military garrison during the opening stages of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021).

[1] Then known as Dehdadi after the village nearby,[2] it was built with British funds and intended both to defend against Russian invasion and to suppress revolts by Uzbek tribes.

Lack of rainfall, with only 4 inches (100 mm) of rain on average annually, enabled the structure to avoid liquification.

[3] It contained a gold-domed mosque, a 75 feet (23 m) square "Pink House," erected in the 1980s by the occupying Soviet Union, as a medical facility.