Afghanistan pulls out of tri-series against Pakistan after Pakistani strikes kill three cricketers

Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has decided to pull out of the upcoming tri-nation series with Pakistan and Sri Lanka, which was scheduled to take place next month, after three local cricketers were killed in an attack. 

In an official statement released by the ACB on Friday, October 17, the board revealed that the local players had travelled from Urgun to Sharana in the Eastern Paktika Province on the Pakistan border to lock horns in a friendly match. 

According to the statement from the ACB, it is said that "after returning home to Urgun, they were targeted during a gathering" in what it described as "a cowardly attack carried out by the Pakistani regime". The ACB named the three players as "Kabeer, Sibghatullah and Haroon".

It said that it "considers this a great loss for Afghanistan's sports community, its athletes, and the cricketing family", while extending its "deepest condolences and solidarity to the bereaved families".

The ACB also confirmed that it had decided to pull out from next month's tri-series "as a gesture of respect to the victims".

"The massacre of innocent civilians and our domestic cricket players by these oppressors is a heinous, unforgivable crime," Afghanistan pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi wrote on Facebook.

"This incident is not only a tragedy for Paktika but for the entire Afghan cricket family and the nation as a whole,” Mohammad Nabi, the Afghanistan all-rounder, added.

"We received the news with great sorrow that in the Arghun district of Paktika province, a number of our country's players were martyred by merciless enemies of our nation. I ask the Great Lord to grant them Jannat-ul-Firdous (the highest paradise). And may the Almighty Lord disgrace the eternal enemies of our country. Amen, O Lord of the Worlds. The post is a message of condolence and a prayer for the victims who were reportedly players from the country, killed in an incident in the Arghun district of Paktika province," opener batter and keeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz wrote in a detailed post.

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