Afghanstan pulls out of T20I series with Pak after strikes kill 3 players

Three Afghan cricketers were among eight persons killed in fresh Pakistan airstrikes in country’s Paktika province on Friday evening, prompting its cricket board to announce withdrawal from the upcoming tri-nation T20I series involving Pakistan in November.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) in a statement confirmed that the strikes targeted a civilian gathering in Urgun district, killing players Kabeer, Sibghatullah, and Haroon, along with five other residents. Seven more were injured in the attack. The victims had reportedly returned to Urgun after playing a friendly match in Sharana, the provincial capital, when the airstrikes hit.

Condemning the assault as a “cowardly attack carried out by the Pakistan regime”, the ACB said the incident marked a “great loss for Afghanistan’s sports community, its athletes, and the cricketing family”. The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), too, condemned the attack.

The ICC said it was “deeply saddened and appalled” by the tragic loss and described the incident a “senseless act of violence” that had robbed the sport of three promising talents.

The BCCI called the airstrikes “cowardly” and “unwarranted”. “The BCCI stands in solidarity with the ACB, the cricket fraternity, and the families of the departed players during this moment of profound grief,” it said.

The strikes come amid escalating border tensions between the two countries, which have seen heavy ground fighting and cross-border shelling over the past week, leaving hundreds dead and injured on both sides.

A temporary 48-hour ceasefire, brokered earlier this week and later extended, appeared to have been shattered by Friday’s airstrikes. The latest incident threatens to derail ongoing peace efforts in Doha.

In a statement ahead of the talks, Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, said a high-level delegation led by Defence Minister Mullah Muhammad Yaqub Mujahid had travelled to Doha to engage with the Pakistani side.

He, however, accused Islamabad of violating Afghanistan’s sovereignty by launching fresh strikes “on civilian areas in Paktika”, calling it a “deliberate attempt to prolong the conflict”.

Mujahid said the Taliban government had instructed its fighters to refrain from retaliatory operations for now to “preserve the dignity” of the negotiation process but reserved the right to respond if the aggression continued.