Eight were killed and 45 more wounded in a series of explosions targeting a cricket match in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, officials said. The attacks came in the home city of the world’s no.1 ranked T20 bowler, Rashid Khan, who is currently playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The blasts exploded among spectators crowded into the stadium at around 11pm on Friday evening as they watched the local Ramadan Cup. Among those killed was Hedayatullah Zahir, who had organised the night tournament in the Nangarhar province as a way to “demolish insurgency darkness with peace”.
His death was mourned by Rashid Khan.
“You will be missed bro #RIP you did lots of hard work always tried to make Nengrahar shining City 😢😢 Allah De Tolo shahedano ta janatona naseeb kre Aw Zakhmyano ta de rogh sehat pe dua yma 😔😔😢😢🇦🇫 #nangrahar #Blast #RamadanCup” he wrote on his twitter handle.
Shafiq Stanikzai, the Afghanistan Cricket Board chief executive, condemned the attacks on Twitter.
“I strongly condemn the attacks last night during a local cricket tournament in Jalalabad, Nangarhar,” Stanikzai wrote.
