Asadabad, Afghanistan

Asadabad اسدآباد Chagha Saray
US soldiers in Asadabad (August 2009)
Nickname(s): Abad - US soldiers use it referencing Asadabad and nearby FOB
Asadabad Location in Afghanistan
Coordinates: 34°52′27″N 71°9′10″E / 34.87417°N 71.15278°E / 34.87417; 71.15278Coordinates: 34°52′27″N 71°9′10″E / 34.87417°N 71.15278°E / 34.87417; 71.15278
Country	Afghanistan
Province	Kunar Province
District	Asadabad District
Government
• Type	Islamic republic
Elevation	827 m (2,713 ft)
Population
• Total	48,400
Time zone	+ 4.30

Asadabad or Asad Abad (Pashto: اسدآباد‎ - Asadābād, Persian: اسدآباد‎‎) is the capital city of Kunar Province in Afghanistan. It is located in the eastern portion of the country adjacent to Pakistan. The city is located within a valley at the confluence of the Pech River and Kunar River between two mountain ridgelines running along both sides of the valley from Northeast to Southwest.

Asadabad is in a mountainous region of the Hindu Kush mountains about 13 km (eight miles) northwest of the Pakistani border and 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Asadabad deals with a moderate amount of trade goods. Nawa Pass, that lies about 16 km (10 miles) south of Asadabad, is the next major border crossing point north of the Khyber Pass for the region. The pass is under constant observation due to its relative ease to cross for commerce and its potential usage for smuggling and Taliban insurgents.

The surrounding Kunar Province lies near the historic routes connecting Central Asia, India, and Iran, such as the Silk Road and the Grand Trunk Road through the Khyber Pass, as well as routes through the Hindu Kush mountains. Asadabad lies at the confluence of the two major rivers of the area, the Kunar and the Pech. The region would have come under the borders of various empires of the ages, including the Achaemenid Persians, the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, etc. It was very close to the paths Alexander the Great passed by on his way from conquering Persia to invading India. Asadabad is also on the eastern boundary of what was Kafiristan - part of Afghanistan not converted to Islam until the 1890s.