The 2010 Salang avalanches (Dari: , Pashto: ) consisted of a series of at least 36 avalanches that struck the southern approach to the Salang Tunnel, north of Kabul. They were caused by a freak storm in the Hindu Kush mountains.

The Hindu Kush is an 800-kilometre-long (500 mi) mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan. The range forms the western section of the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region (HKH); to the north, near its northeastern end, the Hindu Kush buttresses the Pamir Mountains near the point where the borders of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan meet, after which it runs southwest through Pakistan and into Afghanistan near their border. The eastern end of the Hindu Kush in the north merges with the Karakoram Range. Towards its southern end, it connects with the Spin Ghar Range near the Kabul River. It divides the valley of the Amu Darya (the ancient Oxus) to the north from the Indus River valley to the south. The range has numerous high snow-capped peaks, with the highest point being Tirich Mir or Terichmir at 7,708 metres (25,289 ft) in the Chitral District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

The Hindu Kush range region was a historically significant centre of Buddhism, with sites such as the Bamiyan Buddhas. After conquest by the Sunni Caliphate, a portion of the Hindu Kush known as Kafiristan remained a stronghold of polytheistic sects until the 19th century, when it was renamed to Nuristan ("land of light") by the Durrani Emirate. The range and communities settled in it hosted ancient monasteries, important trade networks and travellers between Central Asia and South Asia. The Hindu Kush range has also been the passageway during the invasions of the Indian subcontinent, and continues to be important to contemporary warfare in Afghanistan.