Panjwayi ( ps, پنجوايي; also spelled Panjwaye, Panjwaii, Panjway, Panjawyi, Panjwa'i, or Panjwai) is a district in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. It is located about west of Kandahar. The district borders Helmand Province to the southwest, Maywand District to the west, Zhari District to the north, Arghandab, Kandahar and

Daman Daman may refer to: place Places *Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, a union territory in India **Daman and Diu, former union territory of India, now part of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu **Daman district, India ***Daman, India ...

districts to the east and Reg District to the south. Panjwayi was reduced in size in 2004 when Zhari District was created out of the northern part of it, on the northern side of the Arghandab River, which now forms the northern boundary. The district center is Bazar-i-Panjwayi, located in the northern part of the district near the Arghandab River. The district population was around 77,200 in 2006, most of which are peasants and poorly educated due to unavailability of schools. The area is irrigated by the Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority.

War in Afghanistan

Panjwayi was the site of continual fighting and emplacements of improvised explosive devices (IED) during the War in Afghanistan, with the bulk of the Canadian Forces' casualties taken from this district. It was the scene of the Battle of Panjwayi involving Canadian Forces and Taliban fighters and the theatre of the ISAF Operation Medusa, September 2006. NATO claimed to have killed over 500 Taliban insurgents. The 2009 increase in ISAF forces, brought on about by the U.S. surge, increased troop densities in Panjwayi, resulting in a greater ability on behalf of Afghan government and international forces to conduct operations and penetrate into former Taliban strongholds, especially villages in the "Horn of Panjwayi" such as Mushan, Nejat, Talokan, Sperwan Ghar and Zangabad. These villages are considered the "Birthplace of the Taliban" and were seen as one of the most dangerous regions of Afghanistan for NATO forces. On 16 November 2009 Canadian troops captured the Taliban-controlled village of Hajji Baba southwest of Kandahar City. The Kandahar massacre occurred at around 3:00 AM on Sunday, March 11, 2012, when 38-year-old U.S. Army

staff sergeant Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administrative, supervi ...

Robert Bales from

Joint Base Lewis-McChord A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw ...

(in Washington), went from house to house in two separate villages in the district (

Balandi Balandi is a village in Panjwayi District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. See also *Kandahar Province Kandahār ( ps, ; Kandahār, prs, ; ''Qandahār'') is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the southern part of t ...

and

Alokzai Alakozai ( ps, الکوزی - meaning ''descendant of Alako'' in Pashto) is the name of a Pashtun tribe in Afghanistan. Spelling variations include Alakozi, Alakoozi, Alekozai, Alekuzei, Alikozai, Alokozay, Alokozay, Alkozai, Alokzai, Hulakozai ...

) and killed 16 Afghan civilians, including 9 children. The Taliban maintained a significant psychological and physical presence in the district, and recaptured it on 10 July 2021, during the

2021 Taliban offensive A military offensive by the Taliban insurgent group and other allied militants led to the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan based in Kabul and marked the end of the nearly 20-year-old War in Afghanistan, that had begun following the ...

Populated places

Alkozai Alkozai (also spelled Alokozai) is a village in Panjwayi District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country locat ...

* Bazar-i-Panjwayi * Najeeban * Zangabad

References

External links

AIMS District Map
January 2004, before Zhari District was created
Map after Zhari District was split off
Institute for the Study of War {{Coord, 31, 32, 52, N, 65, 27, 15, E, display=title, region:AF_type:city_source:dewiki Districts of Kandahar Province