Girishk

Girishk or Gereshk is a town in Nahri Saraj District in Helmand province on the Helmand River in Afghanistan, some northwest of Kandahar, at altitude. It is the centre of a rich agricultural region with the Kajakai Dam upriver diverting water to the Boghra Irrigation Canal. Girishk was originally built around a fort on the east bank of the river but was later rebuilt on the west. During the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–42), the fort was captured by the British but it was later abandoned; the same thing happened in 1879. Girishk has a population of about 48,546 and has a developed hospital and a school of engineering which was built back in 1957.