Unfortunate lad held by gangs in arid region

I believe the answer is:

bad lands

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'unfortunate lad held by gangs in arid region' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'unfortunate lad held by gangs' is the wordplay.
'unfortunate' indicates an anagram.
'held by' is an insertion indicator.
'gangs' becomes 'bands' (I've seen this before).
'lad' is an anagram of 'adl'.
'adl' placed into 'bands' is 'BAD LANDS'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for bad lands that I've seen before include "Barren region of South Dakota and Nebraska" , "Poor and eroded uncultivable region" , "Heavily eroded uncultivable regions" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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