Afghanistan will no longer take part in an upcoming cricket series after three players in a local tournament were killed in an air strike, the nation's cricketing body says.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said it would withdraw from November's tri-nation T20 series out of respect for the dead, who it said were targeted in an attack carried out by the Pakistani regime on Friday. The three did not play for the national team.
The strike hit a home in Urgon district in Paktika province, where the players were eating dinner after a match, witnesses and local officials told the BBC.
Eight people were killed, the ACB said. Pakistan said the strike hit militants and denied targeting civilians.
The ACB named the three players who were killed as Kabeer Agha, Sibghatullah, and Haroon, calling their deaths a great loss for Afghanistan's sports community, its athletes, and the cricketing family.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) said it was deeply saddened and appalled by the tragic deaths of three young and promising Afghan cricketers in an air strike that also claimed the lives of several civilians.
Pakistan claimed the operation targeted militants and officials reported at least 70 fighters were killed. In contrast, Afghan officials condemned the strike, asserting it was a direct assault on innocent lives.
Pakistan's Minister of Information Attaullah Tarar labeled claims of civilian targets as false and part of an agenda to support terrorist factions within Afghanistan.
The incident escalates tensions that were already fraught following a temporary truce set to expire, which had been negotiated amidst ongoing skirmishes along the controversial border. The Taliban has expressed its willingness to engage in peace discussions despite grievances over what they call Pakistani aggression.
Zimbabwe will replace Afghanistan in the T20 series following this withdrawal.
