Helmand Province
Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan
Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces (, '' wilåyat''). The provinces of Afghanistan are the primar ...
,
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
.Marja is an unincorporated agricultural district in Nad Ali. The area is irrigated by the
Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority
The Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority (HAVA) based in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan, originally named the Helmand Valley Authority (HVA) until its expansion in 1965,The Helmand Valley Project in Afghanistan: AID Evaluation Special Study No. 18 C. Clapp-Wicek & E. Baldwin, US Agency for International Development, published December 1983 (pdf) A small town of the same name lies 11 km to the west of the Helmand River, at the coordinates shown at the top of the page. The town of Nad-e Ali was built in 1954 as part of the HAVA irrigation project, and was settled by 3,000 predominantly Pashtun families who were given newly
arable land
Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the ...
.
The village of
Shin Kalay
Shin Kalay is a village in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in the Nad Ali District. It is inhabited by a Pashtun population of 11,000 and adheres to Sharia Islamic law. The village has recently accomplished high feats in education. Given its poli ...
has made advances in the education of children that was recognized and published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (
UNOCHA
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is a United Nations (UN) body established in December 1991 by the General Assembly to strengthen the international response to complex emergencies and natural disaste ...
).
War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
During the
International Security Assistance Force
' ps, کمک او همکاري '
, allies = Afghanistan
, opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda
, commander1 =
, commander1_label = Commander
, commander2 =
, commander2_label =
, commander3 =
, comman ...
occupation, Nad Ali was in the UK area of responsibility. On 9 February 2011, soldiers from the Parachute Regiment were patrolling in north of Nad-e Ali district when they were hit by small arms fire, resulting in two fatalities.Two soldiers from Parachute Regiment die in Helmand, ''The Guardian'', 9 February 2011 /ref>
Nad Ali was the scene of several intense firefights during the course of the war in Afghanistan.
In 2014, a patrol formed of soldiers from the
Household Cavalry Regiment
The Household Cavalry Regiment (HCR) is an Armoured Cavalry regiment of the British Army based in Bulford Camp in Wiltshire. It is the brother regiment of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment (HCMR) based at Hyde Park Barracks in London - both ...
, and the
1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion
1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion is a fast and mobilized armored terrestrial reconnaissance battalion of the United States Marine Corps. Nicknamed the "Highlanders," their primary weapon system is the LAV-25 Li ...
were involved in a 40 hour long gunfight with
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...