Kajaki is a
village in southern
Afghanistan, and is split between two townsteads, Kajaki 'Olya, and Kajaki Sofla. It is the district centre of
Kajaki District in
Helmand Province. North east of the village is an important hydro power station for electricity and irrigation projects, the
Kajaki Dam. The village itself hugs the east side of the
Helmand River, 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 gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has been ...
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, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Br ...
of the
Royal Anglian Regiment were killed in a suspected
friendly fire incident northwest of Kajaki. The soldiers were on patrol when they were attacked by
Taliban insurgents
{{Infobox military conflict
, partof = the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the Afghanistan conflict
, image = 2021 Taliban Offensive.png
, image_size = 300px
, caption = Map of the 2021 Taliban o ...
. A pair of
United States Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle
The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's ...
fighter jets were called in to provide
close air support
In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and moveme ...
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, founded in 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 Telegraph'', kn ...
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 ( Köppen ''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.
See also
* List of dams and reservoirs in Afghanistan
* Helmand Province
*Kajaki Dam incident The Kajaki Dam Incident occurred on the 6 September 2006, when 4 Soviet anti-personnel mines, left over from the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, were detonated by soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, British Army. One soldier was fat ...
, 2006
References
External links
Map of Kajaki district
(PDF)
{{Helmand Province
Populated places in Helmand Province
