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Lashkargah
Lashkargāh (Pashto: لښکرگاه, Dari: لشکرگاه, lit. 'army base'), also known as Lakhkargah, and historically known as Bost or Bust (Pashto, Dari: بست), is a city in southwestern Afghanistan and the capital of Helmand Province. It is located in Lashkargah District, where the Arghandab River merges into the Helmand River. The city has a population of 201,546 as of 2006. Lashkargah is linked by major roads with Kandahar to the east, Zaranj on the border with Iran to the west, and Farah and Herat to the north-west. It is mostly very arid and desolate. However, farming does exist around the Helmand and Arghandab rivers. Bost Airport is located on the east bank of the Helmand River, five miles north of the junction of the Helmand and Arghandab rivers. Because of the trading hubs, it is Afghanistan's second largest city in size, after Kabul and before Kandahar.
After several weeks of fighting in the Battle of Lashkargah, the city was captured by the Taliban on 13 August 2021, becoming the fourteenth provincial capital to be seized by the Taliban as part of the wider 2021 Taliban offensive.
Lashkargah means place of the army, from Persian words lashkar or lashgar (army) and gah (place). Historically, it served as a military garrison, especially during the Ghaznavid Empire, when it was a winter capital and strategic military base. Its name reflects this military role.
Lashkargah means "army barracks" in Persian. The area was part of the Saffarids Persianate dynasty in the 9th century. It grew up a thousand years ago as a riverside barracks town for soldiers accompanying the Ghaznavid nobility to their grand winter capital of Bost. The ruins of the Ghaznavid mansions still stand along the Helmand River; the city of Bost and its outlying communities were sacked in successive centuries by the Ghorids, Mongols, and Timurids. However, the region was later rebuilt by Timur.
By the late 16th century the city and region was governed by the Safavid dynasty. It became part of the Afghan Hotaki Empire in 1709. It was invaded by the Afsharid forces in 1738 on their way to Kandahar. By 1747 it became part of the Durrani Empire or modern Afghanistan. The British arrived in or about 1840 during the First Anglo-Afghan War but left about a year later. The city was used by Ayub Khan in the Second Anglo-Afghan War until 1880 when the British helped return it to Abdur Rahman Khan. It remained peaceful for the next 100 years.
The modern city of Lashkargah was used as a headquarters for United States Army Corps of Engineers working on the Helmand Valley Authority (HVA) irrigation project in the 1950s, modeled after the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in the United States. Lashkargah was built using American designs, with broad tree-lined streets and brick houses with no walls separating them from the street. In the wake of the Soviet invasion and the long Afghan civil war, the trees mostly came down and walls went up.
The massive Helmand irrigation project in the 1940s–1970s created one of the most extensive farming zones in southern Afghanistan, opening up many thousands of hectares of desert to human cultivation and habitation. The project focused on three large canals: the Boghra, Shamalan, and Darweshan. Responsibility for maintaining the canals was given to the Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority (HAVA), a semi-independent government agency whose authority (in its heyday) rivaled that of the provincial governors.
After the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989 and the collapse of Mohammad Najibullah's government in 1992, the city was taken over by the Mujaheddin forces. In the mid-1990s it fell to the Taliban government. In late 2001, the Taliban were removed from power by the United States armed forces. Since 2002, the city and region was occupied by United States Marine Corps and the International Security Assistance Force. In 2008, Taliban forces attacked the city heavily but the Afghan National Army and the Oregon Army National Guard managed to hold them back, as shown in the documentary, "Shepherds of Helmand." After training and equipping Afghan security forces, the foreign armies transferred security responsibility to the military of Afghanistan and Afghan National Police in 2011. The city has witnessed some fighting in the form of attacks orchestrated by the Taliban insurgents. In October 2020, the Taliban attacked the city along with the nearby district of Nad Ali. Militants raised the flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan at the city's eastern entrance but withdrew following a few days once the United States agreed to halt its airstrikes on the Taliban near Lashkargah. The city fell under Taliban control on 13 August 2021, after the Battle of Lashkargah.
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Lashkargah
Lashkargāh (Pashto: لښکرگاه, Dari: لشکرگاه, lit. 'army base'), also known as Lakhkargah, and historically known as Bost or Bust (Pashto, Dari: بست), is a city in southwestern Afghanistan and the capital of Helmand Province. It is located in Lashkargah District, where the Arghandab River merges into the Helmand River. The city has a population of 201,546 as of 2006. Lashkargah is linked by major roads with Kandahar to the east, Zaranj on the border with Iran to the west, and Farah and Herat to the north-west. It is mostly very arid and desolate. However, farming does exist around the Helmand and Arghandab rivers. Bost Airport is located on the east bank of the Helmand River, five miles north of the junction of the Helmand and Arghandab rivers. Because of the trading hubs, it is Afghanistan's second largest city in size, after Kabul and before Kandahar.
After several weeks of fighting in the Battle of Lashkargah, the city was captured by the Taliban on 13 August 2021, becoming the fourteenth provincial capital to be seized by the Taliban as part of the wider 2021 Taliban offensive.
Lashkargah means place of the army, from Persian words lashkar or lashgar (army) and gah (place). Historically, it served as a military garrison, especially during the Ghaznavid Empire, when it was a winter capital and strategic military base. Its name reflects this military role.
Lashkargah means "army barracks" in Persian. The area was part of the Saffarids Persianate dynasty in the 9th century. It grew up a thousand years ago as a riverside barracks town for soldiers accompanying the Ghaznavid nobility to their grand winter capital of Bost. The ruins of the Ghaznavid mansions still stand along the Helmand River; the city of Bost and its outlying communities were sacked in successive centuries by the Ghorids, Mongols, and Timurids. However, the region was later rebuilt by Timur.
By the late 16th century the city and region was governed by the Safavid dynasty. It became part of the Afghan Hotaki Empire in 1709. It was invaded by the Afsharid forces in 1738 on their way to Kandahar. By 1747 it became part of the Durrani Empire or modern Afghanistan. The British arrived in or about 1840 during the First Anglo-Afghan War but left about a year later. The city was used by Ayub Khan in the Second Anglo-Afghan War until 1880 when the British helped return it to Abdur Rahman Khan. It remained peaceful for the next 100 years.
The modern city of Lashkargah was used as a headquarters for United States Army Corps of Engineers working on the Helmand Valley Authority (HVA) irrigation project in the 1950s, modeled after the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in the United States. Lashkargah was built using American designs, with broad tree-lined streets and brick houses with no walls separating them from the street. In the wake of the Soviet invasion and the long Afghan civil war, the trees mostly came down and walls went up.
The massive Helmand irrigation project in the 1940s–1970s created one of the most extensive farming zones in southern Afghanistan, opening up many thousands of hectares of desert to human cultivation and habitation. The project focused on three large canals: the Boghra, Shamalan, and Darweshan. Responsibility for maintaining the canals was given to the Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority (HAVA), a semi-independent government agency whose authority (in its heyday) rivaled that of the provincial governors.
After the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989 and the collapse of Mohammad Najibullah's government in 1992, the city was taken over by the Mujaheddin forces. In the mid-1990s it fell to the Taliban government. In late 2001, the Taliban were removed from power by the United States armed forces. Since 2002, the city and region was occupied by United States Marine Corps and the International Security Assistance Force. In 2008, Taliban forces attacked the city heavily but the Afghan National Army and the Oregon Army National Guard managed to hold them back, as shown in the documentary, "Shepherds of Helmand." After training and equipping Afghan security forces, the foreign armies transferred security responsibility to the military of Afghanistan and Afghan National Police in 2011. The city has witnessed some fighting in the form of attacks orchestrated by the Taliban insurgents. In October 2020, the Taliban attacked the city along with the nearby district of Nad Ali. Militants raised the flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan at the city's eastern entrance but withdrew following a few days once the United States agreed to halt its airstrikes on the Taliban near Lashkargah. The city fell under Taliban control on 13 August 2021, after the Battle of Lashkargah.
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