Surrounded to the southwest and east by mountains, the town consists of a bazaar, one road, and a maze of mud-brick houses and compounds, interspersed with narrow alleys.

The animal rescue charity Nowzad Dogs, founded by Pen Farthing, is named after the town.

During the early post-Taliban years, the town thrived, helped by irrigation from the Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority.

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.

[4] In the years following, Nawzad became a ghost town and British, Gurkha, and Estonian forces only managed to maintain a stalemate in the region.