The Kunduz River, known in its upper reaches as the Surkhab, rises in the Hindu Kush and flows north through Baghlan and Kunduz provinces before joining the Amu Darya at the Tajik border. Around the city the river spreads into a network of irrigation channels that feed the cotton, rice and watermelon fields the area is famous for in calmer times.
In a region of bone-dry hills, the green ribbon of the river plain stands out dramatically on any flight north over the Hindu Kush.