Spin Boldak
Spin Boldak سپین بولدک | |
|---|---|
 The Wesh-Chaman border crossing in 2012 | |
  Spin Boldak Location in Afghanistan | |
| Coordinates: 31°0′29″N66°23′53″E / 31.00806°N 66.39806°E / 31.00806; 66.39806 | |
| Country | Afghanistan |
| Province | Kandahar |
| District | Spin Boldak |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| • Mayor | Lutfullah Latifi[1] |
| Elevation | 4,009 ft (1,222 m) |
| Population (2025)[2] | |
• Total | 123,945 |
| Time zone | UTC+04:30 (Afghanistan Time) |
Spin Boldak (Pashto: سپین بولدک) is a city in Kandahar Province of Afghanistan. It is within the jurisdiction of Spin Boldak District and has an estimated population of 123,945 people.[2] Its current mayor is Lutfullah Latifi.[1]
Spin Boldak sits near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. It is linked by a highway with the city of Kandahar to the northwest, and with Chaman and Quetta in Pakistan to the southeast. The Wesh-Chaman border crossing is located in the southeast of the city.[3] A new township is being built in Spin Boldak for the Afghans in Pakistan returning to Kandahar.[4]
The area of Spin Boldak and Chaman is populated by ethnic Pashtuns, particularly the Noorzai and Achakzai tribes.[5]
History
The city began to develop after the United States invaded Afghanistan in October 2001. Before that the location was a small border town. In January 2006, "a suicide bomber on a motorbike killed at least 20 people and wounded 20 more," according to one report. "The attacker drove the vehicle into a crowd watching a wrestling match and detonated a bomb," said Kandahar provincial Gov. Asadullah Khalid. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.[6]
Spin Boldak was the site of a suicide bombing in February 2008 that killed 38 Afghans and injured several Canadian soldiers.[7]
In April 2010, three nephews of the former governor of Spin Boldak district, Hajji (or Haji[8]) Fazluddin Agha, aged 15, 13 and 12, were killed in a bomb attack. The bomb was attached to a donkey which was led to the checkpoint in front of the former governor's home and detonated by remote control. Hajji Fazluddin Agha, according to the report, was one of then-President Hamid Karzai's most important political allies in Kandahar, and had also served as Karzai's top campaign official in Kandahar Province. He was unhurt in the bombing, but two bystanders and two policemen were wounded.[9]
On 14 July 2021, Taliban forces as part of the 2021 Taliban offensive captured Spin Boldak along with the border post with Pakistan.[10] The Taliban immediately took over border duties by regulating movement of people and goods between Spin Boldak and the Wesh–Chaman border crossing.[11] It was at this border crossing on 15 July 2021, the Indian photo-journalist Danish Siddiqui was killed by the Taliban and his body mutilated [12]
Climate
With an influence from the local steppe climate, Spin Boldak features a hot semi-arid climate (KöppenBSh), characterised by little precipitation throughout the year. The average temperature in Spin Boldak is 19.7 °C, while the annual precipitation averages 217 mm. July is the hottest month of the year with an average temperature of 31.8 °C. The coldest month January has an average temperature of 6.9 °C.
| Climate data for Spin Boldak | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 13.9(57.0) | 16.7(62.1) | 22.1(71.8) | 28.1(82.6) | 34.6(94.3) | 39.5(103.1) | 40.2(104.4) | 39.1(102.4) | 35.8(96.4) | 29.9(85.8) | 22.8(73.0) | 17.5(63.5) | 28.4(83.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 6.9(44.4) | 9.7(49.5) | 14.6(58.3) | 20.2(68.4) | 25.4(77.7) | 29.8(85.6) | 31.8(89.2) | 30.1(86.2) | 25.5(77.9) | 19.6(67.3) | 13.5(56.3) | 9.2(48.6) | 19.7(67.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 0.0(32.0) | 2.8(37.0) | 7.2(45.0) | 12.3(54.1) | 16.3(61.3) | 20.2(68.4) | 23.4(74.1) | 21.2(70.2) | 15.3(59.5) | 9.4(48.9) | 4.2(39.6) | 0.9(33.6) | 11.1(52.0) |
| Source: Climate-Data.org[13] | |||||||||||||
Railway
In 1891 the British extended the Indian Railways system (now Pakistan Railways) to the border town of Chaman via the Khojak Tunnel from Qilla Abdullah, from the east and thence south. The rails were not extended into Afghanistan to the north and west for political reasons. Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, is less than 10 km (6.2 mi) from Chaman in Balochistan province of Pakistan.
Over much of the last century, there have been proposals to extend the Chaman line to Afghanistan and possibly beyond, passing through Spin Boldak. These proposals have the support of the current Afghan government.[14][15] In July 2010, Pakistan and Afghanistan signed a Memorandum of understanding for going ahead with the laying of rail tracks between the two countries.
See also
Notes
References
- ^ ab"Spin Boldak Officials Boost Investment Amid Trade Tensions with Pakistan". TOLOnews. 1 March 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
- ^ ab"Estimated Population of Afghanistan 2025-26"(PDF). National Statistics and Information Authority. September 2025. p. 94. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
- ^"Traders trying to use IDs denied entry to Afghanistan". TOLOnews. 23 July 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
- ^"Township Planned for 4,000 Returnee Families in Kandahar". TOLOnews. 27 December 2025. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
- ^"The Master of Spin Boldak: Undercover with Afghanistan’s drug-trafficking border police" by Matthieu Aikins, Harper's Magazine, December 2009, p. 54. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
- ^"Taliban attacks kill at least 24 in Afghanistan", CBC News, 16 January 2006, 12:32 PM ET. Retrieved via Yahoo! Image 20 April 2010.
- ^"Canadian troops blamed in blast that killed 38" by Stephanie Levitz, The Canadian Press, and Noor Khan thestar.com, 18 February 2008. Note: The Canadians were blamed by Asadullah Khalid only to the extent they ignored his warnings of the risk. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
- ^"Explosives cache found in Kandahar as escalation of Taliban attacks feared"Archived 6 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine by Ethan Brown, Canwest News Service, 2 May 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
- ^"Deputy Mayor of Kandahar Is Killed" by Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Taimoor Shah; T. Shah reported from Kandahar; an employee of The Times contributed reporting from Khost, as did Sangar Rahimi from Kabul; Oppel reported and filed the story from Kabul; The New York Times, 20 April 2010. Deputy Mayor Azizullah Yarmal of Kandahar city was killed the same day in a separate incident. (A version of this article appeared in print on 21 April 2010, on page A6 of the New York edition. "A Killing Further Erodes Afghan Faith in Leaders.") Retrieved 2010-04-20, 12 July 2010.
- ^"Taliban capture key Afghan border crossing with Pakistan: Spokesman". Channel News Asia. 14 July 2021. Archived from the original on 15 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- ^"Border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan reopens after Taliban seizure". France24. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
- ^Laskar, Rezaul; Sunny, Shiv (17 July 2021). "Indian journalist killed in line of duty by Taliban". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
- ^"Climate: Spin Boldak - Climate-Data.org". Retrieved 9 September 2016.
- ^"Afghanistan Signs $264M Deal for Kandahar-Herat Railway Design". TOLOnews. 7 February 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
- ^"Herat-Kandahar railway line designing contracts singed". Pajhwok Afghan News. 6 February 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
