Band-I-Turkistan

(Bend-e-Turkestan), mountain range in northern Afghanistan, separated from the Safed Koh Range by a long valley through which the Murghab River flows. The range is about 300 km long, with elevations to 3,497 m (Mount Khauzi-Kaud). In the northwest, Band-i-Turkistan merges into the hilly Karabil’ foothills on the border with the USSR. There are mountain steppes, and deserts in the foothills; in the upper belt of mountains there is sparse juniper forest.