In a tragic turn of events, three Afghan cricketers were among at least 40 people killed following a Pakistan airstrike in Afghanistan late on Friday, October 17. The attack reportedly targeted residential areas in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province, with most casualties being women and children, according to Tolo News.
ACB Withdraws from Series in Mourning
In response to the devastating incident, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announced the cancellation of the upcoming three-match T20 tri-series involving Pakistan. Expressing grief and outrage, the board condemned the attack, describing it as a “cowardly act” carried out by the Pakistan regime.
“𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 (𝑲𝒂𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒓, 𝑺𝒊𝒃𝒈𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒏) 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑼𝒓𝒈𝒖𝒏 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒚𝒓𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒂 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉. 𝑼𝒑𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈,” 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝑪𝑩 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕.
The ACB further confirmed its withdrawal from the tournament as a mark of respect for the victims, stating that the team would not participate in the upcoming Tri-Nation T20I Series, which was scheduled for late November.
Escalating Tensions Between Afghanistan and Pakistan
Local officials reported that the air raids directly struck civilian homes, leaving dozens dead and injured. The attack has intensified tensions between the two neighboring nations and drawn global condemnation for violating international humanitarian norms.
“𝑪𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉. 𝒀𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒚’𝒔 𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑾𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 170 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 40 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑲𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉 𝒁𝒖𝒃𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝑨𝒈𝒉𝒂, 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒏 𝑩𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒂𝒌.
Eyewitnesses described scenes of destruction and grief, accusing Pakistan of deliberately targeting civilians.
“𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆. 𝑨 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒊𝒕𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒎 𝒃𝒐𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏, 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔. 𝑰𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒐𝒓 𝑯𝒂𝒋𝒊 𝑩𝒂𝒉𝒓𝒂𝒎.
Widespread Damage and Mourning
The attacks also caused artillery shelling in neighboring regions, including Nokli, Haji Hassan Kelay, Wardak, Kuchian, Shorabak, and Shaheed, resulting in extensive property damage. The victims were buried in the central cemetery of Spin Boldak district, where hundreds gathered to pay their final respects.
As Afghanistan mourns the loss of its players and civilians, calls for accountability and international intervention have grown louder, marking a dark day for both sports and humanity in the war-torn region.
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