Cricket-Afghanistan pull out of T20 tri-series in Pakistan amid conflict

Oct 18 (Reuters) – Afghanistan have withdrawn from their Twenty20 international tri-series in Pakistan next month following the death of three local cricketers that the Afghanistan Cricket Board said were due to military strikes in Paktika province. Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were due to meet in the tournament scheduled to take place in Rawalpindi and Lahore from November 17-29. The ACB said in a statement that the three players travelled to Sharana, the capital of Paktika province, to play in a friendly match and later died during the strikes after returning home to the Urgun district. "‎The ACB considers this a great loss for Afghanistan's sports community, its athletes, and the cricketing family," the ACB said in a statement, mourning the deaths of the players and several others. "‎In response to this tragic incident and as a gesture of respect to the victims, the ACB has decided to withdraw from participating in the upcoming tri-nation T20I series involving Pakistan, scheduled to be played in November." Pakistan and Afghanistan on Friday extended a 48-hour truce amid peace talks in Doha, sources said, as they seek to resolve clashes that have killed dozens in the worst violence between the nations since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021. The fierce fighting between the one-time allies and Pakistani airstrikes across their contested 2,600-km (1,600-mile) frontier were triggered after Islamabad demanded Kabul rein in militants who stepped up attacks in Pakistan, saying they operated from havens in Afghanistan. (Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)

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