- Information Minister Tarar says the ICC offered no independent verification.
- Noting ‘echo chamber’ formed as ICC, ACB repeats same claim.
- Points to recurring “avoidable controversies” under ICC leadership.
Pakistan on Sunday condemned the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) latest statements, describing them as selective, biased and premature, and warned that such narratives risked politicizing the sport and undermining confidence in global cricket governance.
“Pakistan, a primary victim of cross-border terrorism, rejects the ICC’s selective, biased and hasty comment making a disputed claim as established that three ‘Afghan cricketers’ died in an ‘airstrike’,” Information and Radio Minister Ataullah Tarar said in an X-post.
“The ICC has not cited any independent verification to substantiate these allegations,” the minister said, adding, “Pakistan strongly rejects the characterization and disputes the ICC’s allegation and calls for immediate correction.”
“We also note a worrying pattern of amplification without attempting to gather evidence.
“Within hours of the ICC release, its chairman, Jay Shah, publicly repeated the same claim on X, and the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) then issued a statement along the same lines, explicitly invoking the ICC’s claim rather than providing details or evidence.”
This sequencing is an attempt to create an apparent echo chamber, according to Tarar.
“This episode follows a pattern of inevitable controversies under the ICC’s current leadership that has tried to disproportionately influence Pakistan cricket, including the recent ‘handshake controversy’ that delayed Pakistan’s Asia Cup match until a solution was found.
The information minister said these incidents have eroded confidence in the ICC’s neutrality, stressing that a global regulator must not appear to advance any biased narrative, nor allow match-fixing controversies to repeat themselves.
“Pakistan has consistently maintained that politics must not pollute the sport, particularly cricket, and urges the ICC to uphold its independence and the spirit of the game.
Tarar warned that the ICC should refrain from definitive attributions, avoid attesting to unverified allegations at the behest of others, refrain from allowing certain actors to draw political mileage and uphold even-handed standards regardless of the nationality of officials.
“Pakistan expects the ICC, led by its current chairman, who happens to belong to India, to restore its neutrality, international standards of fair play and impartial conduct and address the potential precedent, perhaps a global first, involving a sports regulator in narratives linked to violent extremists.”
Precision strike
Tarar confirmed on Saturday that last night Pakistan carried out “precision strikes” on confirmed camps of the outlawed 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 has been sent to hell based on confirmed intelligence reports,” the federal minister wrote on X.
The two neighboring countries are witnessing heightened tensions amid the Afghan Taliban regime’s reluctance to act against terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil, amid 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 12 October.
The Pakistani armed forces gave a befitting response to the aggression, killing over 200 Afghan Taliban and affiliated militants in an action of self-defense. The military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said 23 soldiers embraced martyrdom in the clashes with the Taliban forces and the terrorists.
A temporary ceasefire between the neighbors – which Pakistan agreed to at the request of Afghanistan – on October 15 put a pause in 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 operating from Afghanistan attempted several terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.
He said all such attempts were effectively thwarted by the country’s security forces.
Meanwhile, he said, security forces responded effectively and eliminated over 100 militants associated with the Khawarij group.
No civilian casualties
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 one soldier and several civilians while several others were injured,” he added.
He also dismissed claims of civilian casualties as “baseless” and noted that they appear to be part of a deliberate effort to garner sympathy for terrorist groups operating from inside Afghanistan.
Armistice reached
But later Saturday evening, 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 Qatari officials.
Both countries have also agreed to hold further meetings in the coming days and establish a permanent mechanism to ensure peace and stability between them.
Confirming the agreement, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif expressed hope that the ceasefire would end border tensions between the two countries.
