Pakistan on Sunday condemned the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) recent statements, describing them as selective, biased, and premature, and warning that such narratives risk politicising the sport and undermining trust in global cricket governance.
"Pakistan, a prime victim of cross-border terrorism, rejects the ICC's selective, biased and premature comment that advances a disputed allegation, as established, that three ‘Afghan cricketers’ died in an 'airstrike'," Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ataullah Tarar said in an X post.
"The ICC has cited no independent verification to substantiate these claims," the minister said, adding, "Pakistan strongly rejects the characterisation and contests the ICC’s claim and calls for immediate correction.”
"We also note a troubling pattern of amplification without any attempts at evidence gathering.
"Within hours of the ICC release, its Chair, Jay Shah, publicly echoed the same claim on X, and the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) then posted a statement on the same lines, explicitly invoking the ICC's claim rather than providing details or proof."
This sequencing is an attempt at manufacturing an ostensible echo chamber, according to Tarar.
“This episode follows a pattern of avoidable controversies under the ICC’s current leadership that have disproportionately attempted to affect Pakistan cricket, including the recent ‘handshake controversy’ that delayed Pakistan's Asia Cup fixture until a resolution was found.
Saying that these incidents have eroded confidence in ICC’s neutrality,the information minister stressed that a global regulator must not appear to push any biased narrative, nor allow match-management controversies to recur.
“Pakistan has consistently held that politics must not contaminate the sport, especially cricket, and urges the ICC to uphold its independence and the spirit of the game.
Tarar warned that the ICC should abstain from definitive attributions, avoid certifying unverified claims on the behest of others, refrain from allowing certain actors to draw political mileage, and uphold even-handed standards irrespective of the nationality of office-bearers.
"Pakistan expects the ICC, led by its current Chair, who happens to belong to India, to restore its neutrality, international standards of fair play and unbiased conduct and address the potential precedent, perhaps a global first, that embroils a sport regulator in narratives linked to violent extremists.”
Tarar on Saturday confirmed that Pakistan last night conducted "precision strikes" on verified camps of the proscribed Gul Bahadur group in the border areas of North and South Waziristan districts.
"In these precision strikes, [a] minimum [of] 60-70 Kharjis [terrorists] and their leadership have been sent to hell based on confirmed intelligence reports," the federal minister wrote on X.
The two neighbouring nations are witnessing heightened tensions amid the Afghan Taliban regime's reluctance to act against terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil, in the backdrop of rising terror attacks in Pakistan.
The Taliban forces and India-backed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), alias Fitna al-Khawarij, resorted to an unprovoked attack on Pakistan on October 12.
The Pakistan Armed Forces gave a befitting response to the aggression, killing over 200 Afghan Taliban and affiliated militants in a self-defence action. The military's media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said that 23 soldiers embraced martyrdom in the clashes with the Taliban forces and the terrorists.
A temporary truce between the neighbours — which Pakistan agreed to at the request of Afghanistan — on October 15 paused days of fierce fighting that killed dozens and wounded hundreds.
However, Tarar — in today's post — noted that during the 48-hour ceasefire, militants affiliated with the Khawarij group and operating from Afghanistan attempted multiple terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.
He said all such attempts were effectively thwarted by the country’s security forces.
Meanwhile, he said, the security forces responded effectively, eliminating over 100 militants affiliated with the Khawarij group.
The information minister stated that militants from the ex-Gul Bahadur faction of the Khawarij group carried out a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (IED) attack in North Waziristan.
"The attack resulted in the martyrdom of a soldier and multiple civilians, while several others were injured," he added.
He also refuted allegations of civilian casualties as "baseless", noting that they appear to be part of a deliberate effort to garner sympathy for terrorist groups operating from within Afghanistan.
However, later on Saturday night, Qatar announced that Pakistan and Afghanistan had reached a landmark ceasefire agreement, marking a potential breakthrough in efforts to restore peace and stability along their troubled border.
The ceasefire agreement is expected to lay a strong foundation for lasting peace in the region, according to the Qatari officials.
Both countries have also agreed to hold further meetings in the coming days and to establish a permanent mechanism to ensure peace and stability between them.
Confirming the agreement, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif expressed hope that the ceasefire would end border tensions between the two countries.