British Broadcasting Corporation
A large crowd gathered for the player's funeral on Saturday
Afghanistan will not participate in the upcoming cricket series after three players in the local tournament were killed in an airstrike, the country's cricket body said.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said it would withdraw from November's Tri-Nations T20 series out of respect for the deceased, whom it said was the “target” of an “attack launched by the Pakistani regime” on Friday. None of the three have played for the national team.
Witnesses and local officials told the BBC that the attack hit a home in the Urgon district of Paktika province as the players were having dinner after the game.
Eight people died, the ACB said. Pakistan said the attack hit militants but denied targeting civilians.
The ACB named the three players who died as Kabeer Agha, Sibghatullah and Haroon, calling their deaths “a huge loss to the Afghan sports community, athletes and cricket family”.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) said it was “deeply saddened and shocked” by the “tragic deaths of three young and promising Afghan cricketers” in an airstrike that also “claimed the lives of several civilians”.
“The ICC stands with the Afghanistan Cricket Board and expresses their grief,” the ICC said in a statement, adding that it “strongly condemns this act of violence”.
The attack came hours after a temporary truce between Afghanistan and Pakistan was set to expire, following days of deadly border clashes between the two countries. Dozens of casualties were reported.
Pakistan said the airstrikes targeted Afghan militants and killed at least 70 combatants.
Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Talal said the suggestion that the attack targeted civilians was “false and was aimed at providing support to terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan.”
Afghanistan Cricket Board/X
Afghanistan Cricket Board shares photos of three players who died
In a social media post, Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan paid tribute to “aspiring young cricketers who dream of representing their country on the world stage”.
Other players from the Afghan national team also joined in the tributes, including Fazal Haq Faruqi, who said the attack was a “heinous and unforgivable crime”.
Large crowds gathered at the funerals of strike victims on Saturday.
The attack came after Pakistani officials said a suicide attack near the Afghan border on Friday killed seven soldiers.
A 48-hour ceasefire between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which reportedly started at 13:00 GMT on Wednesday, has been extended to allow for negotiations.
An Afghan delegation arrived in Doha, the capital of Qatar, on Saturday for peace talks with Pakistan.
The Taliban government said it would take part in the talks despite “Pakistan's aggression”, saying it was Islamabad's attempt to prolong the conflict.
Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Pakistan should “rethink its policies and establish friendly and civilized relations with Afghanistan”.
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif will lead Pakistan's delegation to the Doha conference, Pakistan's foreign ministry said on Saturday.
The statement said the talks will focus on ending cross-border terrorism and restoring peace and stability on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Zimbabwe will now replace Afghanistan in the T20 series.