The cricketers were among five dead during overnight attacks in the Paktika border province, the Afghanistan Cricket Board has said

Overnight Pakistani airstrikes have killed five people, including three cricket players in the border province of Paktika, the Afghanistan Cricket Board said on Saturday.

The Asian neighbors had agreed to a temporary ceasefire on Wednesday and were invited by the Qatari authorities to negotiate a permanent truce and address mutual concerns in Doha.

"In this heartbreaking incident, three players (Kabeer, Sibghatullah and Haroon) alongside 5 other fellow countrymen from Urgun District were martyred, and seven others were injured," the Afghanistan Cricket Board said on X. "The players had earlier traveled to Sharana, the capital of Paktika province, to participate in a friendly cricket match. After returning home to Urgun, they were targeted during a gathering."

The board added that it is withdrawing from an upcoming tournament involving Pakistan scheduled for late November.

Afghan cricketer Rashid Khan said he is "deeply saddened" by the strikes. "A tragedy that claimed the lives of women, children, and aspiring young cricketers who dreamed of representing their nation on the world stage," he posted on X.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry has yet to comment on the allegations, but Dawn newspaper reported that Islamabad targeted "terrorist hideouts" in Afghanistan on Friday. The paper said the "precision strikes" were conducted against hideouts of an outlawed group and killed dozens of fighters.

"The attacks came on the heels of an audacious gun-and-bomb attack, targeting a military installation in North Waziristan, and just hours after Islamabad and Kabul extended their two-day ceasefire," the paper added.

Former US Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad called Qatar an "honest broker" for peace between the Asian countries, but asked whether Pakistan is an "honest neighbor."

In a post on X, Khalizad said the Afghan people face "enough challenges, trying to rebuild their country" after decades of war. "Pakistan has already heartlessly and abruptly expelled over a million Afghan refugees, which the country is struggling to absorb," he wrote. "Is it so intolerable to them that a neighbor they have been trying to dominate and suppress for decade might finally enjoy a bit of peace and normalcy?"

(RT.com)