KABUL: Afghanistan has withdrawn its national cricket team from next month’s tri-nation tournament in Pakistan, after three Afghan cricketers were killed in overnight Pakistani military strikes amid the latest flare-up of tensions between the neighbors.
The deadliest clashes in years between the two countries started last week and were triggered by an unclaimed explosion in Kabul and another in the southeastern province of Paktika, for which the Afghan government blamed the Pakistani military.
After days of bloody border fighting that killed dozens of soldiers and civilians from both nations, Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed to a 48-hour truce on Wednesday, which was extended as officials from the two countries held talks in Qatar on Saturday.
However, according to a post on X from the Afghan Taliban government’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, “Pakistani military forces once again conducted airstrikes on civilian areas in Paktika” on Friday.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board said on Saturday that three Afghan players were among those killed in the latest airstrikes, with local media outlets placing the death toll at 17.
