Spin Boldak

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City in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan

title: "Spin Boldak" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["populated-places-in-kandahar-province"] description: "City in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan" topic_path: "general/populated-places-in-kandahar-province" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_Boldak" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary City in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
official_nameSpin Boldak
native_name
native_name_langps
settlement_typeCity
image_skylineEmpty fuel trucks crossing border into Pakistan in February 2010.jpg
image_captionThe Wesh-Chaman border crossing in 2012
dot_x
pushpin_mapAfghanistan
pushpin_label_positionbottom
pushpin_map_captionLocation in Afghanistan
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_nameAfghanistan
subdivision_type1Province
subdivision_name1Kandahar
subdivision_type2District
subdivision_name2Spin Boldak
government_typeMunicipality
leader_titleMayor
leader_nameLutfullah Latifi
leader_title1
established_title
established_title2
established_title3
unit_prefImperial
area_total_km2
area_land_km2
population_as_of2025
population_footnotes
population_total123,945
population_blank1_titleEthnicities
population_blank2_titleReligions
timezoneAfghanistan Time
utc_offset+04:30
coordinates
elevation_footnotes
elevation_m1222
postal_code_type
::

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Spin Boldak () 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. Its current mayor is Lutfullah Latifi.

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. A new township is being built in Spin Boldak for the Afghans in Pakistan returning to Kandahar.

The area of Spin Boldak and Chaman is populated by ethnic Pashtuns, particularly the Noorzai and Achakzai tribes.

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.

Spin Boldak was the site of a suicide bombing in February 2008 that killed 38 Afghans and injured several Canadian soldiers.

In April 2010, three nephews of the former governor of Spin Boldak district, Hajji (or Haji) 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.

On 14 July 2021, Taliban forces as part of the 2021 Taliban offensive captured Spin Boldak along with the border post with Pakistan. The Taliban immediately took over border duties by regulating movement of people and goods between Spin Boldak and the Wesh–Chaman border crossing. 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

Climate

With an influence from the local steppe climate, Spin Boldak features a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh), 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.

| location = Spin Boldak

| metric first = Yes | single line = Yes | Jan high C = 13.9 | Feb high C = 16.7 | Mar high C = 22.1 | Apr high C = 28.1 | May high C = 34.6 | Jun high C = 39.5 | Jul high C = 40.2 | Aug high C = 39.1 | Sep high C = 35.8 | Oct high C = 29.9 | Nov high C = 22.8 | Dec high C = 17.5 | Jan mean C = 6.9 | Feb mean C = 9.7 | Mar mean C = 14.6 | Apr mean C = 20.2 | May mean C = 25.4 | Jun mean C = 29.8 | Jul mean C = 31.8 | Aug mean C = 30.1 | Sep mean C = 25.5 | Oct mean C = 19.6 | Nov mean C = 13.5 | Dec mean C = 9.2 | year mean C = | Jan low C = 0.0 | Feb low C = 2.8 | Mar low C = 7.2 | Apr low C = 12.3 | May low C = 16.3 | Jun low C = 20.2 | Jul low C = 23.4 | Aug low C = 21.2 | Sep low C = 15.3 | Oct low C = 9.4 | Nov low C = 4.2 | Dec low C = 0.9 | rain colour = green |source 1 = Climate-Data.org{{cite web |url = http://en.climate-data.org/location/1058586/ |title = Climate: Spin Boldak - Climate-Data.org |accessdate = 9 September 2016}}

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 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. In July 2010, Pakistan and Afghanistan signed a Memorandum of understanding for going ahead with the laying of rail tracks between the two countries.

Notes

References

References

  2. (September 2025). "Estimated Population of Afghanistan 2025-26". National Statistics and Information Authority.
  3. (1 March 2025). "Spin Boldak Officials Boost Investment Amid Trade Tensions with Pakistan". TOLOnews.
  4. (July 23, 2024). "Traders trying to use IDs denied entry to Afghanistan". TOLOnews.
  5. (27 December 2025). "Township Planned for 4,000 Returnee Families in Kandahar". TOLOnews.
  6. [http://aan-afghanistan.com/uploads/HarpersSpinBoldak.pdf "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.
  7. [https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/taliban-attacks-kill-at-least-24-in-afghanistan-1.600968 "Taliban attacks kill at least 24 in Afghanistan"], CBC News, 16 January 2006, 12:32 PM ET. Retrieved via [http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dspin%2Bboldak%2B2006%26ei%3Dutf-8%26y%3DSearch&w=220&h=182&imgurl=www.cbc.ca%2Fgfx%2Fpix%2Fkandahar_bomb_cp_9323736.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbc.ca%2Fworld%2Fstory%2F2006%2F01%2F16%2Ftaliban-attacks060116.html&size=14k&name=kandahar+bomb+cp...&p=spin+boldak+2006&oid=60e18a2dc9463ab2&fr2=&no=14&tt=23&sigr=123vrg4s2&sigi=11f7t2t2o&sigb=12h1nos6s Yahoo! Image] 20 April 2010.
  8. [https://www.thestar.com/article/304586 "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.
  9. [https://vancouversun.com/news/Explosives+cache+found+Kandahar+escalation+Taliban+attacks+feared/2978019/story.html "Explosives cache found in Kandahar as escalation of Taliban attacks feared"] {{Webarchive. link. (6 May 2010 by Ethan Brown, Canwest News Service, 2 May 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2010.)
  10. [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/world/asia/21afghan.html?hp "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.
  11. (14 July 2021). "Taliban capture key Afghan border crossing with Pakistan: Spokesman". Channel News Asia.
  12. "Border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan reopens after Taliban seizure".
  13. (17 July 2021). "Indian journalist killed in line of duty by Taliban".
  14. (7 February 2025). "Afghanistan Signs $264M Deal for Kandahar-Herat Railway Design". TOLOnews.
  15. (6 February 2025). "Herat-Kandahar railway line designing contracts singed". Pajhwok Afghan News.

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