Nawzad, Afghanistan

Nawzad
Nawzad in June 2009
Nawzad Location in Afghanistan
Coordinates: 32°24′N 64°28′E / 32.400°N 64.467°E / 32.400; 64.467Coordinates: 32°24′N 64°28′E / 32.400°N 64.467°E / 32.400; 64.467
Country	Afghanistan
Province	Helmand Province
District	Nawzad District
Occupation	Taliban
Elevation	4,006 ft (1,221 m)
Time zone	UTC+4:30

Nawzad (Pashto: نوزاد‎; also Now Zad) is a small town, the centre of Nawzad District in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. It is located at 32°24′00″N 64°28′00″E / 32.4000°N 64.4667°E / 32.4000; 64.4667 at an altitude of 1221 metres ASL.

With an influence from the local steppe climate, Nawzad features a cold semi-arid climate (BSk) under the Köppen climate classification. The average temperature in Nawzad is 16.0 °C, while the annual precipitation averages 162 mm.

July is the warmest month of the year with an average temperature of 28.8 °C. The coldest month January has an average temperature of 2.9 °C.

During the early post-Taliban years, the town thrived, helped by irrigation from the Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority. People came for miles to its bazaar; the United Nations even began building a school. But by early 2007, the estimated 10,000 civilian population, including Nawzad's police force, had fled, driven out by violence from returning Taliban insurgents.

In the years following, Nawzad became a ghost town and British, Gurkha, and Estonian forces only managed to maintain a stalemate in the region. Now Zad became one of the most bitterly contested districts since British forces first moved into Helmand in 2006.