Bala murghab (

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

/) is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

situated in the northeast of

Badghis Province Bādghīs () is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northwest of the country, on the border with Turkmenistan. It is considered to be one of the country's most underdeveloped provinces, with the highest poverty rate. T ...

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 ...

. The district capital is Bala Murghab city which is located along the Murghab River. Bala Murghab is surrounded by some other important districts such as Ab Kamari, Muqur, Jawand, and Qadis.

Demographics

The estimated population of Murghab District in 2003 was roughly 109,381. Based upon the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, l ...

(UNHCR) report,

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghan (ethnon ...

make up 95.0% of the total population, followed by Aimaqs, Turkmen and

Uzbeks The Uzbeks () are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, being among the largest Turkic ethnic groups in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakhs, Kazakh and Karakalpaks, Karakalpak ...

Geography

Murghab is a hilly district located in the northeast of Badghis Province. Most of the population live in the valley of the Murghab River. The district has 133 villages which covers an area of 4,491 km². Murghab is surrounded by

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

, Muqur, Qadis, Jawand, Ghormach and Qaysar district of neighbouring

Faryab Province Faryab (Dari,Pashto : فاریاب) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, which is located in the north of the country bordering neighboring Turkmenistan. It has a population of about 1,109,223, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a ...

Education

There are around 2 high schools, 3 secondary schools and 24 primary schools in the district.

History

During the Afghan Civil War the district was first besieged and then captured by the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

in May 2019 after the Afghan Armed Forces/

Afghan National Police The Afghan National Police (ANP; ; ), also known as the Afghan Police, is the national police force of the Afghanistan, Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, serving as a single law enforcement agency all across the country. The first police officer i ...

retreated from most strategic sites in the district center with the exception of a military base nearby, a base that they still hold today despite Taliban pressure. Nonetheless, Afghan Security Forces are still able to launch raids on the area via Helicopter with

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

military support; in January 2020, both US and Afghan forces conducted a special operation in the district center liberating more than 60 prisoners from a Taliban prison.

References

UNHCR District Profile
compiled 2002-08-26, accessed 2006-05-05 (PDF). *Dupree, Nancy Hatch (1977): An Historical Guide to Afghanistan. 1st Edition: 1970. 2nd Edition. Revised and Enlarged. Afghan Tourist Organization

External links

Map of Murghab
(PDF) Districts of Badghis Province Murghab basin {{Badghis-geo-stub