Spera District is situated in the most southwestern part of
Khost Province
Khost (Pashto/Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the southeastern part of the country. Khost consists of thirteen districts and the city of Khost serves as the capital of the province. To the east, Khost Province is bord ...
,
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
. It borders with
Paktia Province
Paktia (Pashto/Dari: – ''Paktyā'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the east of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktia Province is divided into 15 districts and has a population of roughly 6 ...
to the south and west,
Shamal District to the north. The district is within the heartland of the
Zadran tribe of
Pashtuns
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
. To the east it borders
Nadir Shah Kot and
Tani districts as well as
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. The population of Spera District is around 21,500 people. The district center is the village of
Spera
Spera is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' (municipality) of Castel Ivano, Trentino, in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about east of Trento
Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; ...
, situated in the central part of the district.
History
On 16 April 2022,
Pakistani airstrikes targeted several villages in Spera District, including Afghan-Dubai, Pasa Mela, Mir Sapar, Mandata, and Kanai, and struck refugee camps belonging to
internally displaced person
An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee.
A ...
s from
Waziristan
Waziristan (Pashto and ur, , "land of the Wazir") is a mountainous region covering the former FATA agencies of North Waziristan and South Waziristan which are now districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Waziristan covers some . ...
, killing at least 41 people, mainly women and children, and wounding 22 others.
Spera was one of the districts most affected by the
2022 Afghanistan earthquake. Approximately 500 homes were destroyed, and 40 people were killed, with 95 others injured in the district.
Many houses constructed primarily of mud and wood were razed to the ground.
Heavy rain and the earthquake contributed to landslides that destroyed entire
hamlets
A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...
.
Construction of new earthquake-resistant houses
In August 2022, new "
earthquake-resistant houses" began to be constructed in the district for victims of the earthquake.
The project involves the establishment of 300 houses here and 2,000 homes in both the
Gayan and
Barmal districts of neighboring
Paktika Province
Paktika (Pashto/Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktika has a population of about 789,000, mostly ethnic Pashtuns. The town of Sharana ...
.
References
External links
AIMS District Map
Districts of Khost Province
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