Mumbai, March 17 (IANS) Afghanistan cricketer Naveen Ul Haq has flayed Pakistan for the air strikes on Kabul that killed 400 people, and said it is hard to find any difference between the attack by Israel and the United States on Iran and that on his country’s capital.

“Hard to find any difference between the Israel and Pakistan regimes. Period,” Naveel Ul Haq wrote in a post on his Facebook wall on Tuesday.

The Afghanistan pacer was reacting to air strikes by Pakistan forces on a hospital treating drug addicts in Kabul. Around 400 people died while 250 were injured in the air strikes. His comments drew sharp reactions from many people on social media.

Naveen Ul Haq is among several Afghan cricketers who have condemned the air strikes in which several civilians have been killed.

Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan condemned the attacks, calling them “sickening and deeply concerning” and said he stands with the “Afghan people in this difficult time”.

“I am deeply saddened by the latest reports of civilian casualties as a result of Pakistani airstrikes in Kabul. Targeting civilian homes, educational facilities, or medical infrastructure, either intentional or by mistake, is a war crime. The sheer disregard for human lives, especially during the holy month of Ramadan, is sickening and deeply concerning. It will only fuel division and hatred. I call upon the UN and other human rights agencies to thoroughly investigate this latest atrocity and hold the perpetrators to account. I stand with my Afghan people in this difficult time. We shall heal, and we will rise as a nation. We always do. Inshallah!” Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan said in a post on X.

Another Afghan cricketer, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, also expressed anguish over the loss of ‘innocent lives’ in the attack by Pakistan and wondered how many more lives must be lost before the world speaks on these incidents..

“A hospital was bombed in Afghanistan during Ramadan by Pakistan…Where is international law now? Where is humanity now? How many innocent lives must be lost before the world speaks?” wrote Gurbaz in his post on X, formerly Twitter.

Several fans also supported the cricketers and condemned the attack by Pakistan that cost civilian lives.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have been embroiled in frequent clashes since the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan. Pakistan claims that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch insurgents operate from Afghanistan and have launched several attacks across the border. The Afghan Taliban accuses Pakistan of sheltering Islamic State terrorists.

A few months back, Pakistan had bombed places across the border in Afghanistan, in which three domestic cricketers had died. As a result, the Afghanistan Cricket Board had pulled out its cricket team from a tri-series in Pakistan.

–IANS

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