Afghanistan’s cricket board on Saturday announced its withdrawal from an upcoming T20I series against Pakistan in protest of a deadly Pakistani airstrike that killed eight people, including three young cricketers, in the eastern province of Paktika.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said in a statement it was “deeply saddened” by what it called a “cowardly attack carried out by the Pakistani regime,” which struck the Urgun district Friday evening. The cricketers had returned from a friendly match in Sharana, the provincial capital, when the attack occurred during a gathering.
The ACB identified the slain players as Kabeer, Sibghatullah and Haroon. Five other civilians were also killed, and seven people were injured.
“This is a great loss for Afghanistan’s sports community, its athletes, and the cricketing family,” the board said, adding that it would not participate in the upcoming tri-nation T20I series in late November, which was scheduled to feature Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.
Star Afghan spinner Rashid Khan also condemned the airstrike in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
“I am deeply saddened by the loss of civilian lives in the recent Pakistani aerial strikes on Afghanistan,” he wrote. “A tragedy that claimed the lives of women, children, and aspiring young cricketers who dreamed of representing their nation on the world stage.”
Rashid called the targeting of civilian areas “immoral and barbaric” and welcomed the ACB’s decision, adding, “Our national dignity must come before all else.”
The attack came amid a sharp escalation in violence along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border. Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Kabul and other provinces during the week, including an attack Wednesday in the capital that killed at least five civilians.
The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported 462 civilian casualties — 37 killed and 425 wounded — across six provinces, including Paktika, due to cross-border clashes in recent days.
Islamabad has not commented publicly on the Paktika strike, though Pakistani military sources have said recent operations targeted suspected militant hideouts inside Afghanistan.
