Maidan Shar (Pashto: ميدان ښار; Dari: میدان شهر), also Maidan Shahr, Maidan Khār, or simply Maidan, is the capital of Maidan Wardak province in central Afghanistan. Its population was estimated to be 35,008 in 2003, of which is mostly Pashtuns .
On 15 August 2021, Maidan Shar was seized by Taliban fighters, becoming the twenty-seventh provincial capital to be captured by the Taliban as part of the wider 2021 Taliban offensive.
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National Highway 01 or NH01, formally called the Ring Road (Pashto: د افغانستان حلقوي سړک; Dari: شاهراه حلقوی افغانستان), is a 2,200 km (1,400 mi) two-lane and four-lane road network circulating inside Afghanistan, connecting the following cities (clockwise): Kabul, Maidan Shar, Ghazni, Qalat, Kandahar, Delaram, Herat, Qala e Naw, Maymana, Andkhoy, Sheberghan, Mazar-i-Sharif, Puli Khumri, Charikar, and back to Kabul. It has extensions that connect Jalalabad, Bamyan, Khost, Spin Boldak, Lashkargah, Zaranj (Route 606), Farah, Islam Qala, Torghundi, Ymamnazar, Hairatan, Kunduz, and Fayzabad. The Ring Road is part of AH1, the longest route of the Asian Highway Network. National Highway 01 consists of four major sections, NH0101 to NH0104, linking the major economic centers.
Maidan Wardak, (Pashto; Dari: میدان وردک) simply Wardak or Wardag (Pashto; Dari: وردگ), is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the central region of Afghanistan. It is divided into eight districts and has a population of approximately 500,000. The capital of the province is Maidan Shar, while the most populous district in the province is Saydabad District. Wardak is known for one of its famous high peak mountain known as (Shah Foladi). In 2021, the Taliban gained control of the province during the 2021 Taliban offensive. Wardak is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in central Afghanistan. Its capital is the closest provincial city to Kabul.
The Kabul–Kandahar Highway (NH0101) is 483 km (300 mi) long that links Afghanistan's two largest cities, Kabul and Kandahar. It starts from Dashte Barchi in Kabul and passes through Maidan Shar, Saydabad, Ghazni, and Qalat before reaching Aino Mina in Kandahar. It is currently being rehabilitated at different locations. This highway is a key portion of Afghanistan's national highway system or "National Highway 1". It has a total of five truck scales, with two in Maidan Wardak Province, one in Ghazni Province, one in Zabul Province, and one in Kandahar Province.
Jalrez (Pashto/Dari: جلریز) also known as "Death Valley," due to systemic persecution of the Hazaras traveling through the area, is a district in the west of Maidan Shar, Maidan Wardak Province, Afghanistan. The main town lies at Jalrez, which is 62.9 kilometres (39.1 mi) southwest of the centre of Kabul via the main Kabul-Behsud Highway. The valley has been one of the main active sites of the Taliban insurgents during the Afghanistan's Republic era.