Afghanistan have pulled out of a tri-nation series with Pakistan and Sri Lanka next month after three local cricketers were killed in an attack, the country's cricket board said.
The ACB said that the players had travelled from Urgun to Sharana in the eastern Paktika province on the Pakistan border to take part in a friendly match.
It said that "after returning home to Urgun, they were targeted during a gathering".
The ACB named the three players as "Kabeer, Sibghatullah and Haroon", and said that five other people were also killed in the attack.
The ACB did not give any more details on the attack.
It said that it "considers this a great loss for Afghanistan's sports community, its athletes, and the cricketing family", while extending its "deepest condolences and solidarity to the bereaved families".
The ACB said that it had decided to withdraw from next month's tri-series "as a gesture of respect to the victims".
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had only announced the tri-series last month. It was to begin on November 17 and run till November 29, with matches in Rawalpindi and Lahore.
This was the second tri-series involving Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2025, with the first concluding in the UAE days before the 2025 Asia Cup. It would have been their first such meeting on Pakistani soil.