Afghanistan are placed in Group C alongside New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Uganda and the West Indies. They will play their tournament opener against Uganda on June 3 at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.
As of now, no group has claimed responsibility for the two attacks since Thursday, which police said they were investigating. A senior police officer said that the "Customs officials were present for checks... when unknown persons opened fire".
Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack on policemen in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and termed the act "cowardly". Taking to social media platform X, Sharif said, “C owardly acts of terrorists cannot shake our resolve.”
Five boys and four boys between the ages of five and ten years old were killed in the explosion. Afghanistan remains highly dangerous for children who collect scrap metal due to old landmines and explosive remnants of war.
According to the National Center for Seismology (NCS), the tremors were felt at around 5:44 am. Earlier, the United Nations said that Afghanistan needed more than USD 400 million to recover from an earthquake that shook the nation last October killing around 2,000 people.
Militant Islamist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for Friday's rampage, but there were indications that Russia was pursuing a Ukrainian link, despite emphatic denials from Ukrainian officials that Kyiv had anything to do with it.
Ever since Taliban has taken control of Afghanistan in September 2021, Australia has refused to play bilateral cricket against them. Australia cancelled the one-off Test match in November 2021 and then withdrew from three-match ODI series in 2023 and now have postponed the T20I series.
Pakistan confirmed that it carried out “intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations” inside the border regions of Afghanistan, while the Taliban retaliated by targeting Pakistan's military posts. Islamabad has accused the Taliban of failing to stop terrorists from attacking Pakistan.
It was not immediately clear whether anyone was killed in what the extremist group called a "retaliatory" move against Pakistani forces which had killed at least eight people including children in the Barmal district of Paktika and the Spera district of Khost.
The airstrikes took place after a terrorist attack killed seven soldiers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, for which Pakistan blamed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Pakistan targeted TTP hideouts in Afghan territory but the Taliban condemned Islamabad's airstrikes as a violation of its sovereignty.
An earthquake of magnitude 4.5 on the Richter Scale hit Afghanistan. In a post on X, the NCS wrote, " Earthquake of Magnitude:4.5, Occurred on 17-03-2024, 19:59:23 IST, Lat: 36.66 & Long: 71.43, Depth: 169 Km, Region: Afghanistan."
A motorbike crashed into a passenger bus, which then hit a fuel tanker on the opposite side of the road, said Qadratullah, a traffic official in Helmand. An investigation into the accident was underway, he added.
Rashid Khan is set to play his first competitive game after the ODI World Cup 2023 as he continued to remain on the sidelines due to a back injury. Rashid makes a return for the T20I series against Ireland. This is also a boost for Gujarat Titans, the team he plays for in the IPL.
Mohammad Nabi was awarded the Player of the Match (POTM) honour for his stupendous all-round effort. The 39-year-old veteran scored 48 runs and bagged a five-for to ensure Afgahnistan's series win over the Irish.
The one-off Test match between Afghanistan and Ireland was scheduled to be played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi but the venue was changed a day before the game. The match is now happening at the Tolerance Oval with Afghanistan opting to bat.
Afghanistan are coming into this Test on the back of a ten-wicket drubbing they suffered against Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC). They will be missing their star leg-spinner, Rashid Khan.
It was also the fifth public execution since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as the US and NATO troops were in the final weeks of their withdrawal from the country after two decades of war.
The Taliban regularly carried out public executions, floggings and stonings when they were in power from 1996 to 2001. The UN on Thursday said it was strongly opposed to the death penalty, saying it was inconsistent with the fundamental right to life.
Sri Lanka were eyeing a clean sweep in the T20I series but missed out on the opportunity after a three-run defeat at the hands of Afghanistan in the final game on Wednesday at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.
Noor Ahmad has been handed a 12-month ban from the UAE-based ILT20 for "breaching his Player Agreement with Sharjah Warriors". He was signed for the first season of the tournament and was offered an extension on the same terms but refused to do so, following which he was banned.
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