3 Afghan Cricketers Among 10 Killed in Fresh Pakistani Strikes as Truce Collapses: Key Updates

Even as Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed to extend their fragile ceasefire until the conclusion of peace talks in Doha, Kabul on Friday accused Islamabad of launching fresh airstrikes inside Afghan territory, alleging a violation of the truce. The negotiations are set to begin in Doha later today.

According to the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), three local cricketers from the Urgun district in Paktika province were among those killed in the attacks. The players—identified as Kabeer, Sibghatullah, and Haroon—had returned home after participating in a friendly match in Sharana when they were targeted.

“In this heartbreaking incident, three players, alongside five other fellow countrymen from Urgun District, were martyred, and seven others were injured,” the ACB said in a statement, announcing Afghanistan’s withdrawal from the upcoming Tri-Nation T20I series involving Pakistan.

Taliban officials said at least 10 people were killed in the airstrikes, which reportedly hit three locations in Paktika province. Reuters, citing ACB spokesperson Sayed Naseem Sadaat, reported that eight local cricketers had been killed.

Ceasefire Extended Ahead of Doha Talks

The two sides had agreed to extend their 48-hour truce to cover the duration of the Doha negotiations. A Pakistani delegation had already reached Doha, while the Afghan team was expected to arrive on Saturday, Reuters reported.

The ceasefire extension followed a suicide attack near the Afghan border that killed seven Pakistani soldiers and wounded 13 others. Pakistan said the assault involved a militant ramming an explosives-laden vehicle into a military post’s boundary wall in North Waziristan, followed by two others who were shot dead while attempting to storm the facility.

Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid later told local broadcaster Ariana News that Kabul had instructed its forces to maintain the ceasefire “as long as Pakistan refrains from any attack.”

However, within hours of that statement, Afghan police spokesman Mohammad Ismail Mawia claimed that Pakistani aircraft bombed Barmal and Urgun districts, the same strikes in which the cricketers were reportedly killed.

A Pakistani security official told Reuters that the truce was reached with the Afghan Taliban government, not with the militant factions operating from Afghan soil that continue to attack Pakistan.

According to Afghanistan’s Tolo News, the airstrikes struck residential areas in Urgun and Barmal, causing “significant civilian casualties.”

Renewed Border Clashes

The latest tensions come after deadly cross-border clashes last weekend, when Afghanistan launched airstrikes inside Pakistan in retaliation for what it called an earlier Pakistani attack in Kabul. Afghanistan claimed its strikes killed 58 Pakistani soldiers, while Pakistan said 23 of its troops were killed and over 200 Taliban fighters died in counterfire.

The two sides temporarily closed border crossings on October 12 amid the escalating violence.

After Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed a strong response, the Taliban warned it had “other ways to handle the situation if Pakistan does not want to engage in dialogue.” Qatar and Saudi Arabia later brokered a temporary truce, but fresh clashes were reported on Tuesday night, leaving dozens of troops and civilians dead.

Both sides eventually agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire, each claiming it was requested by the other, before extending it again on Friday ahead of the Doha peace talks.