Lashkar Gah (Pashto: لښکرګاه; Persian: لشکرگاه), historically also called Bost (Persian: بُسْت), is a city in southern Afghanistan and the capital of Helmand Province. It is located in Lashkar Gah district, and situated between the Helmand and Arghandab rivers. The city has a population of 201,546 as of 2006. Lashkar Gah is linked by major roads with Kandahar to the east, Zaranj to the west, 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 Argahandab rivers.
American designed street of Lashkar Gah.
History
Lashkar Gah means "army barracks" in Persian language. The area was part of the Saffarids 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 (Timur Lang).
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 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 Lashkar Gah 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. Lashkar Gah 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. 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.
Boat riding on the Helmand River. The forest is located on the other side.
The Lashkar Gah Mosque is the main mosque in the city.
Helmand Institute of Teachers Training
Peace Square
Lashkar Gah Football Stadium
Recent developments
The city of Lashkar Gah has undergone large scale development in the past few years with new roads, markets and residential areas constructed. Many Afghans continue to leave their tribes and emigrate towards cities – such as Lashkar Gah. Government projects distributed land to the people, increasing the approximate size of the city. Modern architecture and building methods are more common, now, here than Mud squats and other more traditional Afghan architecture. The current Governor of Helmand province, Gulab Mangal, has funded large scale development of the city, the Governor's office and Justice Department have been recently renovated, new Police Headquarters and Eidgah have also been funded. Unlike much of Afghanistan the roads in Lashkar Gah are generally paved with asphalt. International Organizations and PRT in Lashkar Gah have helped to complete rehabilitation and infrastructure projects such as building: schools, roads and parks.
In 2005 it was announced that a USAID-funded project would build six reservoirs in Lashkar Gah, with responsibility for the water supply then being handed over to the Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority. The city had been without fresh water for the previous 30 years due to the contamination of the Helmand River.
As part of Operation Moshtarak in 2010, the British Army and local workforces constructed Route Trident, a road to connect Lashkar Gah and the northern, more developed city of Gereshk, Governor Mangal's efforts to restructure the city have left Route Trident underfunded, but highly ranked in the priority of rebuilding Lashkar Gah.
A current project in the city, to aid regeneration is the "Lashkar Gah Bost Airport and Agriculture Center". This project will consist of constructing a new agricultural center, an Industrial Park and will repair, upgrade and modernise Bost Airport through renovation projects.
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