KABUL: (Oct 18) At least three Afghan cricketers were killed in a Pakistani airstrike in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said on Saturday, condemning what it described as a “cowardly attack” by Pakistan.
The ACB identified the slain players as Kabeer, Sibghatullah, and Haroon, who had travelled from Urgun to Sharana in Paktika near the Pakistan border to play a friendly match. Five other people were also killed in the attack, the board said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter).
According to the ACB, the cricketers were “targeted during a gathering after returning home to Urgun.”
“The Afghanistan Cricket Board expresses its deepest sorrow and grief over the tragic martyrdom of the brave cricketers from Urgun District in Paktika Province, who were targeted this evening in a cowardly attack carried out by the Pakistani regime,” the statement said.
In response, Afghanistan announced its withdrawal from a tri-nation cricket series with Pakistan and Sri Lanka scheduled for next month, calling it “a gesture of respect to the victims.”
Cricketers mourn deaths
Afghanistan’s T20 captain Rashid Khan strongly condemned the attack and supported the ACB’s decision.
“I am deeply saddened by the loss of civilian lives in the recent Pakistani aerial strikes on Afghanistan — a tragedy that claimed the lives of women, children, and aspiring young cricketers,” Khan wrote on X.
“It is absolutely immoral and barbaric to target civilian infrastructure. Such unjust and unlawful actions are a grave violation of human rights and must not go unnoticed. I stand with our people at this difficult time — our national dignity must come before all else.”
All-rounder Mohammad Nabi called the attack a national tragedy, saying, “This incident is not only a tragedy for Paktika but for the entire Afghan cricket family and the nation as a whole.”
Fast bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi echoed similar sentiments, writing on Facebook, “The massacre of innocent civilians and our domestic cricket players by these oppressors is a heinous, unforgivable crime.”
The strike comes amid rising tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, following days of deadly cross-border clashes that prompted a temporary ceasefire earlier this week.