The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has claimed clear evidence pointing to Pakistan as responsible for the airstrike that killed three local cricketers in Urgun district, Afghanistan. The spokesperson, Sayed Naseem Sadaat, revealed that the evidence includes video footage documenting the incident.
Following the tragedy, Afghanistan withdrew its national team from the upcoming Tri-Nation T20I Series in Pakistan. Sadaat’s statement comes days after Pakistan denied involvement in the incident.
Evidence and Reaction from ACB
“𝑾𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅𝒘𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝒂 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒇𝒈𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝑪𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝑩𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒍 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒊-𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑺𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒂𝒕, 𝒂𝒔 𝒒𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑯𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔.
The victims, Kabeer, Sibghatullah, and Haroon, were returning home after playing a friendly match in Sharana, Paktika province, when the airstrike occurred on October 17. The ACB described the incident as a massive loss for Afghanistan’s cricketing community.
Call for Global Cricket Solidarity
Sadaat condemned the attack and urged all cricket boards to denounce it, emphasizing that the sport should remain a symbol of peace.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒑𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒏 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆. 𝑪𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒘𝒂𝒓,” 𝑺𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
The ICC and BCCI expressed solidarity with Afghanistan following the withdrawal. Zimbabwe accepted the invitation to participate in the tri-series alongside Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The series is scheduled to begin on November 17 in Rawalpindi, with remaining matches, including the final on November 29, to be held at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.
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