Kajaki is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in southern

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, and is split between two townsteads, Kajaki 'Olya, and Kajaki Sofla. It is the district centre of Kajaki District in

Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto language, Pashto/Dari language, Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering ...

. North east of the village is an important hydro power station for electricity and irrigation projects, the

Kajaki Dam The Kajaki Dam is "an earth and rockfill embankment type dam" located on the Helmand River in the Kajaki District of Helmand Province in Afghanistan, about northwest of Kandahar. It has a hydroelectric power station, which is operated by the ...

. The village itself hugs the east side of the

Helmand River The Helmand river (Pashto/Dari: ; Ancient Greek: Ἐτύμανδρος, ''Etýmandros''; Latin: '), also spelled Helmend, or Helmund, Hirmand, is the longest river in Afghanistan and the primary watershed for the endorheic Sistan Basin. It o ...

, right after it makes its first turn south, one km out from the dam. Kajaki is bordered by the town Payson to its west, Tangeye, an abandoned bazaar to its north, Shabez Kheyl, and Kanzi to its north west, all across the Helmand. Kajaki serves as the northern terminus of Route 611.

History

It was announced in December 2006 that British Corporal Mark Wright would be posthumously awarded the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational Courage, gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, ...

for his actions after entering an unmarked minefield near Kajaki, in an attempt to save the lives of other injured soldiers which is the plot for the 2014 film Kajaki: The True Story. On August 23, 2007, three

British soldiers The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

of the

Royal Anglian Regiment The Royal Anglian Regiment is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It consists of two Regular battalions and one Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Reserve battalion. The modern regiment was formed in 1964, making it the oldest of the line regi ...

were killed in a suspected

friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy or hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while ...

incident northwest of Kajaki. The soldiers were on patrol when they were attacked by Taliban insurgents. A pair of

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force (USAF) selected McDonnell Douglas's desi ...

fighter jets were called in to provide

close air support Close air support (CAS) is defined as aerial warfare actions—often air-to-ground actions such as strafes or airstrikes—by military aircraft against hostile targets in close proximity to friendly forces. A form of fire support, CAS requires ...

dropping one 500 lb bomb in support of British forces; it is believed that this bomb exploded close to the British position killing three soldiers and injuring two others. On August 26, 2007, the

Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegr ...

reported that American officials were investigating the possibility that the bombing was the result of a failure in the bombs guidance system rather than being the result of pilot error.Ministry of Defence , Defence News , Three British soldiers killed in Afghanistan
/ref>

Climate

Kajaki has a

hot desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''BWh''), characterised by little precipitation and high variation between summer and winter temperatures. The average temperature in Kajaki is 18.3 °C, while the annual precipitation averages 163 mm. July is the hottest month of the year with an average temperature of 30.9 °C. The coldest month January has an average temperature of 5.5 °C.

References

External links

Map of Kajaki district
(PDF) {{Helmand Province Populated places in Helmand Province

History

Climate

See also

References

External links