In a tragic incident, a series of bombs exploded at a ground in Jalalabad, Afghanistan on the night of May 18, claiming eight lives and leaving 45 injured.
Less than a year after an Islamic State attack on a cricket match in Kabul in September 2017 which killed three people, another fatal bomb blast has been reported in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, several such incidents have been taking place in the country, ironically known as the ‘heart of Asia’.
What is more saddening is that the blast took place days after the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan. It took place at a football stadium that was hosting a cricket match. No militant group has claimed the responsibility for the blast yet.
DAVID RICHARDSON: We are saddened to hear of the terrorist attack on a cricket match in Afghanistan and extend our thoughts and sympathy to the families of those killed and the wider cricket family there.
— ICC Media (@ICCMediaComms) May 19, 2018
After the blast, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack, saying, “The terrorists did not stop killing our people even during the holy month of Ramadan. By carrying out a terrorist attack in a populated sport stadium, once again they have proved that they are not bound to any creed or religion, and they are the enemy of humanity.”
Afghanistan is going through a high as a cricketing nation. After qualifying for the 2019 World Cup by defeating the West Indies, they received full member status from the ICC last year. The team is scheduled to play its maiden Test match against India in June in Bengaluru.