Grishk

{{Short description | Town in Helmand Province, Afghanistan}}

{{coord|31|49|N|64|33|E|display=title}}

{{Infobox settlement

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| subdivision_name1 = Helmand Province

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Grishk ({{langx|ps|ګرِشک|translit=Grishk}}; {{langx|fa|گِرِشک|translit=Gereshk}}), also spelled Gereshk, is the new name of Zamindawar which is named after the invasion of the region by Nader Afshar army and given to Ghilji tribe in 18th century. Grishk a town in Grishk District of Helmand province, geographically located along the Helmand River in Afghanistan, some {{convert|120|km|mi|abbr=on}} northwest of Kandahar, at {{convert|817|m|ft}} altitude. Upstream lies the Kajaki Dam which diverts water to the Boghra Irrigation Canal, an essential infrastructure for the region's crops. Grishk Dam is also nearby. Grishk was originally built around a fort on the east bank of the river but was later rebuilt on the west. The fort was twice captured by the British: first in the First Anglo-Afghan War and again in 1879. In both cases the fort was later abandoned. Grishk has a population of about 48,546 and has a hospital and a school of engineering which was built back in 1957.

Grishk is located on the important transport route known as Highway 1, which was built during the time of the Soviet–Afghan War. This route links Farah Province in the west and to Kandahar Province in the east. As part of Operation Moshtarak the British Army and Afghan workers are constructing Route Trident, a road that will eventually connect Grishk with the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah.{{cite news|publisher=BBC News|title=Progress slow and messy in Afghanistan |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8483047.stm|access-date=3 September 2010|date=28 January 2010}} Grishk is also the southern terminus of Route 611. The area is irrigated by the Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority.[https://web.archive.org/web/20130408130704/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA518306 (pdf) The Helmand Valley Project in Afghanistan: A.I.D. Evaluation Special Study No. 18] C Clapp-Wicek & E Baldwin, U.S. Agency for International Development, published December 1983

Climate

Grishk has a hot desert climate (Köppen BWh), characterised by little precipitation and high variation between summer and winter temperatures. The average temperature in Grishk is 19.6 °C, while the annual precipitation averages 117 mm. Summers start in mid-May, last until late-September, and are extremely dry. July is the hottest month of the year with an average temperature of 32.2 °C. The coldest month January has an average temperature of 7.0 °C.

{{Weather box

| location = Grishk

| metric first = Yes

| single line = Yes

| Jan high C = 14.0

| Feb high C = 16.7

| Mar high C = 23.4

| Apr high C = 28.5

| May high C = 34.9

| Jun high C = 40.1

| Jul high C = 41.3

| Aug high C = 39.6

| Sep high C = 35.1

| Oct high C = 29.2

| Nov high C = 21.6

| Dec high C = 16.0

| Jan mean C = 7.0

| Feb mean C = 9.7

| Mar mean C = 15.7

| Apr mean C = 20.3

| May mean C = 25.9

| Jun mean C = 30.3

| Jul mean C = 32.2

| Aug mean C = 29.9

| Sep mean C = 24.6

| Oct mean C = 18.9

| Nov mean C = 12.3

| Dec mean C = 8.0

| year mean C =

| Jan low C = 0.0

| Feb low C = 2.7

| Mar low C = 8.0

| Apr low C = 12.1

| May low C = 16.9

| Jun low C = 20.6

| Jul low C = 23.2

| Aug low C = 20.3

| Sep low C = 14.2

| Oct low C = 8.7

| Nov low C = 3.1

| Dec low C = 0.0

| rain colour = green

|source 1 = Climate-Data.org{{cite web

|url = http://en.climate-data.org/location/31368/

|title = Climate: Gereshk - Climate-Data.org

|access-date = 9 September 2016}}

}}

Ethnography

The population of Grishk is primarily made up of Pashtuns, along with large minorities of Hazaras and Shia Tajiks, being one of the only regions of Helmand province with a significant Shia minority.{{Cite book |last=Dennys |first=Christian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y5ixAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA61 |title=Military Intervention, Stabilisation and Peace: The search for stability |date=2014-05-30 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-90833-3 |language=en}} Grishk was under control of Noorzai tribe during the time of first Taliban government, and Mullah Mir Hamza an ethnic Pashtun from Noorzai tribe was the District governor of Grishk, while Mullah Mahmmad Azam an ethnic Pashtun from Noorzai tribe was the commander of Taliban forces in Grishk.{{Cite book |last=Dupree |first=Louis |title=Afghanistan |year=1973 |edition=1st |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Adamec |first=Ludwig W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AAHna6aqtX4C |title=Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan |year=2003 |isbn=978-0810878150 |edition=3rd |language=en |author-link=Ludwig W. Adamec}}

Operation Enduring Freedom

{{main article|Operation Enduring Freedom}}

In November 2003, Afghan Civilian Abdul Wahed died in Grishk at the special forces base, after being exposed to torture by the Afghan army.[https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/13/international/asia/13cnd-afgh.html] NYTimes: US Fails to Investigate Abuses In April 2008 the 2nd Battalion 7th Marines, Echo Co, which was sent there to help support train the Afghan Police, worked with the Danish and British military.{{Cite web |url=http://www.marine-corps-news.com/2008/11/hardhit_27_begins_return_from_1.htm |title=Marine Corps News Room: Hard-hit 2/7 begins return from Afghanistan |access-date=2012-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000404/http://www.marine-corps-news.com/2008/11/hardhit_27_begins_return_from_1.htm |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead }}

On December 4, 2008, two Danish soldiers were killed near Grishk.[https://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081204/wl_afp/denmarkafghanistannatounrest] Two Danish soldiers killed in Afghanistan

In June 2017, the son of Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, named Hafiz Abdur-Rahman, committed a suicide attack against Afghan forces based in the city.{{Cite web |date=2017-07-22 |title=Son of Taliban's emir kills himself in suicide attack on Afghan forces {{!}} FDD's Long War Journal |url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2017/07/son-of-talibans-emir-kills-himself-in-suicide-attack-on-afghan-forces.php |access-date=2022-05-07 |website=www.longwarjournal.org |language=en-US}}

The city, along with other parts of Helmand province and the whole of Afghanistan, fell to Taliban forces as a result of the 2021 Taliban offensive.

See also

References