Gardez

Gardez is identified in the provided sources as a city in southeastern Afghanistan and the capital of Paktia Province. The materials supplied give basic civic information including an estimated population and the name of the current mayor, but do not provide archaeological details, accounts of local superstitions, or any recorded paranormal phenomena for Gardez or for Ai-Khanoum and surrounding ruins. Because the user requested focus on the Ai-Khanoum area and local superstitions, note that no such material is present in the supplied sources; further research with archaeological reports, ethnographic studies, or local folklore collections would be required to document those topics.