"Lashkargah ended abruptly on every side. One side came down to a bluff overlooking the Helmand River. The other three sides were delineated just as sharply as the desert ... Just south of town was a pitiful bazaar, thirty or forty stalls flanking a dirt path that straggled along the river. From the last of these you could make out the ruins of the ancient city that still hulked along the riverbank for miles, the winter capital of the Ghaznavids, deserted nine hundred years ago, now home only to jackals and wild boar."
-Tamim Ansary, West of Kabul, East of New York

Afghanistan's south is mostly dry desert edged by the skirts of the Hindu Kush. Mainly Pashtun, it is a volatile and insecure area. The Taliban insurgency is at is its strongest in this area, and attacks on the Afghan authorities and local NGOs are common. The US army operate regularly in the area.

Travel in Uruzgan, Helmand, Zabul and Nimroz provinces is currently advised against. Seek reliable security information in-country. A small number of travellers have continued to use the Herat-Kandahar highway in local transport, but this route should not be regarded as being safe.