KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Pakistan has closed the Spin Boldak border, a key crossing with Afghanistan, after a suicide attack on Thursday killed at least six people, according to Pakistani media. The shutdown has disrupted trade and left hundreds of Afghan families stranded near the crossing.
According to The Express Tribune, the explosion occurred near a refugee camp close to the border connecting Pakistan’s Balochistan province with Afghanistan’s Kandahar province. Security has been tightened in the area, and investigations into the attack are ongoing.
No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Pakistani officials, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, condemned the attack, describing it as a “heinous crime” and vowing to bring those responsible to justice.
Violence in Pakistan’s border regions has surged since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021. Militant groups such as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), and affiliated groups have increased attacks, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.
Last week, clashes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa resulted in at least 19 Pakistani soldiers and 45 militants killed in attacks by the TTP and subsequent security force operations on militant hideouts. According to the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Pakistan recorded more than 1,600 deaths last year, nearly half of them security personnel, making it the country’s deadliest year in almost a decade.
Islamabad has accused the Afghan Taliban of sheltering TTP leaders and fighters, allowing them to regroup and carry out attacks. The Taliban has rejected these claims, saying that no foreign militants operate from Afghanistan and describing Pakistan’s security challenges as internal issues.
Following last week’s attack, Prime Minister Sharif issued one of Islamabad’s strongest warnings to the Taliban in recent years. “Today, I want to give a clear message to Afghanistan — to choose between Pakistan and the TTP,” he said, warning that if the Taliban continues to allow safe havens for militants, “Pakistan will have nothing to do with the interim Afghan government.”
