A fragile truce between Afghanistan and Pakistan collapsed into renewed bloodshed on Friday as Pakistani airstrikes struck the border city of Spin Boldak in Kandahar province, killing at least 40 civilians and injuring nearly 179 others, according to local health officials. The attack came just hours after the expiration of a 48-hour ceasefire that had briefly paused days of intense cross-border clashes.
Spin Boldak, a long-standing flashpoint in the fraught relationship between the two neighbors, was left reeling as bombs tore through residential neighborhoods. Karimullah Zubair Agha, a local health officer, confirmed that the majority of the dead and wounded were women and children, underscoring the devastating toll on civilians caught in the conflict.
The ceasefire, which began on October 15 following four days of heavy fighting from October 11 to 14, officially ended at 1 p.m. local time on October 17. Within hours, Pakistani fighter jets launched strikes that Afghan officials condemned as indiscriminate and disproportionate. Witnesses described scenes of chaos as families fled their homes, hospitals overflowed with casualties, and emergency workers struggled to cope with the scale of destruction.
Analysts warn that the attack will not only escalate border tensions but also deal a severe blow to already fragile diplomatic relations between Kabul and Islamabad. The violence threatens to destabilize the wider region, where both countries are grappling with insurgencies, economic crises, and fragile governance.
The borderlands, home to thousands of civilians who rely on cross-border trade and kinship ties, are becoming increasingly unsafe and unpredictable. Residents now face the dual threat of military escalation and humanitarian collapse, with aid agencies warning of worsening conditions if the violence continues.
The latest strikes follow a pattern of tit-for-tat attacks that have intensified since early October, with both sides accusing the other of harboring militants and violating sovereignty. While international mediators, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia, have attempted to broker calm, the renewed bloodshed highlights the fragility of ceasefire agreements and the difficulty of sustaining peace in one of the world’s most volatile frontiers.
For ordinary Afghans and Pakistanis living along the border, the promise of peace remains elusive. As one resident told local media, “Every time they say ceasefire, we hope for calm. But instead, we bury our children.”
Tags: Pakistan airstrikes Spin Boldak, Kandahar border conflict, Afghanistan Pakistan ceasefire collapse, 40 civilians killed Spin Boldak, Afghan civilian casualties Pakistan strikes, Afghanistan Pakistan border tensions, Kandahar airstrike October 2025, Spin Boldak humanitarian crisis, Afghanistan Pakistan diplomatic relations, South Asia regional stability.
+ There are no comments
Add yours