Afghanistan have withdrawn from next month’s tri-nation series with Pakistan and Sri Lanka after the killing of three local cricketers in an attack, the country’s cricket board confirmed.
According to the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), the players had travelled from Urgun to Sharana in eastern Paktika province, near the Pakistan border, to participate in a friendly match.
In a strongly worded statement, the ACB 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 board added that the incident had left the nation’s cricketing community “deeply shocked and in mourning,” prompting the decision to withdraw from the tri-series out of respect for the victims.