Girishk

Girishk or Gereshk is a town in Nahri Saraj District in Helmand province on the Helmand River in Afghanistan, some 120 km (75 mi) northwest of Kandahar, at 817 metres (2,680 ft) 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.