Sangin
| Sangin | |
|---|---|
Sangin District Centre during a fight between American troops and the Taliban in 2007
|
|
 Sangin
|
|
| Coordinates: 32°4′24″N 64°50′2″E / 32.07333°N 64.83389°ECoordinates: 32°4′24″N 64°50′2″E / 32.07333°N 64.83389°E | |
| Country | Afghanistan |
| Province | Helmand Province |
| District | Sangin District |
| Elevation | 2,913 ft (888 m) |
| Time zone | UTC+4:30 |
Sangin (Pashto: سنګين) is a town in Helmand province of Afghanistan, with population of approximately 14,000 people. It is located on 32°4′24″N 64°50′2″E / 32.07333°N 64.83389°E in the valley of the Helmand River at 888 m altitude, 95 km to the north-east of Lashkargah. Sangin is notorious as one of the central locations of the opium trade in the south of the country, and is also a town that has traditionally supported the Taliban. It was described by British newspaper The Guardian as "the deadliest area in Afghanistan". Sangin also houses the main bazaar for Sangin District. Route 611 passes through Sangin.
Sangin has a hot desert climate (Köppen BWh), characterised by little precipitation and high variation between summer and winter temperatures. The average temperature in Sangin is 18.8 °C, while the annual precipitation averages 143 mm. July is the hottest month of the year with an average temperature of 31.6 °C. The coldest month January has an average temperature of 6.1 °C.
On 31 July 2005 a United Nations convoy of six vehicles came under attack by Taliban forces lying in ambush some 2 km south of the town. All personnel including the international UN staff member managed to escape by reversing their route only to come under fire by a United States Army patrol of Humvee vehicles that were advancing to the location of the fire fight. Two Afghan personnel, one driver and the armed guard commander from the Ministry of Interior were wounded by the friendly fire and evacuated by helicopter to Kandahar. The armored vehicle that the UN worker was traveling in was unable to be driven due to being hit with approximately fifteen rounds of fire including two rounds from a .50 caliber machine gun. The retreating Taliban were identified crossing the nearby river some 1,500 meters to the West and were killed by a single 500 lb bomb delivered by air support from a United States Air Force (USAF) Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bomber.
...
Wikipedia