3 Afghan cricketers among 8 killed in Pak airstrike, cricket board withdraws from series
PTC News Desk: The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has announced its withdrawal from the upcoming tri-nation T20 series with Pakistan and Sri Lanka, following the deaths of three Afghan domestic players in airstrikes allegedly conducted by Pakistan’s military regime in Afghanistan’s Paktika province.
In an official statement posted on social media, the ACB denounced the incident as “a cowardly attack by the Pakistani regime.”
Afghanistan had been slated to compete in the tri-series alongside Sri Lanka, scheduled to take place in Lahore and Rawalpindi from November 5 to 29.
Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan also issued a sharp statement condemning the “barbaric” airstrikes and fully backed the board’s decision to pull out of the tournament.
"In this heartbreaking incident, three players (Kabeer, Sibghatullah and Haroon) alongside 5 other fellow countrymen from Urgun District were martyred, and seven others were injured," the ACB said in a statement on Saturday.
The clashes, which have claimed dozens of lives on both sides, briefly paused during a 48-hour ceasefire that was later broken when Pakistan allegedly launched airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Paktika province, targeting residential areas in Argun and Bermal districts near the Durand Line. The Taliban denounced the attacks as a breach of the truce while officials from both nations were engaged in talks in Doha to defuse tensions.
- With inputs from agencies
