Former Afghan Member of Parliament Mariam Solaimankhil has blamed the Pakistan Army for being directly responsible for the “systematic terrorism” in the region.
“This is the same pattern of violence the ISI and the Pakistan Army have unleashed for decades from India to Afghanistan. But to see young cricketers, babies, and mothers being killed, it’s heartbreaking,” she told Indian news channel NDTV.
She remarked at a time when a Pakistani airstrike left three Afghan cricketers dead in Paktika province.
Referring to Pakistani Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s recent visit to India, she claimed the trip had spiked cross-border aggression by Pakistan.
“Whenever Afghanistan moves closer to India, our brotherly, historic partner, it threatens Pakistan’s military establishment. Their entire economy thrives on war and destruction,” she said.
“They cannot tolerate peace between Afghans and Indians,” she said.
Sending out a strong message to Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir, she said: “You reap what you sow. For decades, you’ve bred terrorists and used them as weapons. Don’t be surprised when the fire you started burns your own home.”
The Afghanistan Cricket Board on Saturday confirmed that three cricketers were killed in a Pakistani airstrike in the South Asian country’s Paktika province.
They have been identified as Kabeer, Sibghatullah and Haroon.
The ACB said they had travelled from Urgun to Sharana in the eastern Paktika province on the Pakistan border to take part in a friendly match.
The ACB said apart from cricketers, five other people were killed in the strike.
“The Afghanistan Cricket Board expresses its deepest sorrow and grief over the tragic martyrdom of the brave cricketers from Urgun District in Paktika Province, who were targeted this evening in a cowardly attack carried out by the Pakistani regime,” read the statement issued by the ACB.
Hours after Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to extend their 48-hour ceasefire, the Taliban accused Islamabad of carrying out airstrikes in several districts of Paktika province, which lies along the Durand Line, media reports said.
According to TOLOnews, the strikes targeted residential areas in the Argun and Bermal districts near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
The fresh escalation has raised concerns over the fragility of the ceasefire agreement between the two sides, which was extended after days of border clashes and diplomatic tensions.
