Just hours after a temporary ceasefire expired, Pakistan’s Air Force launched a deadly airstrike on Spin Boldak city in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province, killing at least 40 people and injuring 179 others, according to reports from Afghan media outlet TOLO News. Most of the victims were civilians, including women and children.
The attack took place on Friday (October 17) shortly after noon, near the Afghanistan–Pakistan border. Dr. Karimullah Zubair Agha, chief health officer of Spin Boldak, confirmed the casualties and said that many homes and shops were destroyed in the assault.
One survivor, Haji Bahram, expressed outrage, saying: “I have never seen such injustice in my life. A country that claims to be Muslim has bombed women, children, and civilians here.”
Alongside the airstrikes, Pakistani ground forces reportedly fired multiple artillery shells into nearby areas including Nokli, Haji Hasan Kelai, Wardak, Kuchiyan, Shaheed, and Shorbak, causing further destruction and casualties.
Earlier, from October 11 to 14, intense border clashes and crossfire had taken place between Afghan and Pakistani forces. Both sides agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire starting October 15, which expired at 1 p.m. local time on Friday—just hours before the latest attack.
Analysts say the renewed violence stems from tensions over the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a banned militant group in Pakistan that has long been a major internal security threat. Islamabad accuses the Taliban government in Kabul of sheltering and supporting the TTP, a charge Afghanistan has repeatedly denied.
Notably, on October 9, Pakistan’s Air Force killed TTP leader Noor Wali Mehsud in an airstrike on Kabul, triggering new rounds of hostilities along the border beginning October 11.
Although the brief ceasefire temporarily halted the fighting, Friday’s airstrike has reignited fears of a full-scale conflict between the two neighboring countries.
Source: TOLO News