February 21, 2026
By Kaleem Ullah
LAHORE
A seven-year-old girl, Aina Wazir, playing cricket in her village in the scenic but conflict ridden district of North Waziristan, has gone viral on social media over the past two days. But the cost of making this video has been heavy.
Aina drew attention after local citizen journalist Zafran Wazir filmed her playing with other village children – all boys – on a dusty, uneven ground and shared the video online. The clip quickly circulated, with many praising her bowling skills.
Highlighting her talent, Mohsin Dawar (Chairman of the National Democratic Movement and former MNA from the district) shared the video on X, criticising the situation in the region. The video also caught the attention of Javed Afridi, Chairman of Peshawar Zalmi, who announced that Aina would be included in the upcoming Zalmi Women League and assured that she would be provided with cricket equipment and facilities. He even asked for her contact details in a post on X.
But as the video gained traction, Zafran Wazir — the citizen journalist and school principal who filmed it — was allegedly abducted by local militant members and forced to record an apology. The group reportedly considered girls playing cricket to be against Islamic values. The apology video was later uploaded to his own Facebook profile.
In the video, he appears seated on the floor inside a room, saying, “Friends, you may know that a few days ago I made a video of Aina Wazir. Our purpose was to show that she is a young girl with good bowling skills. However, the video went so viral that many people said it was against Islamic values and Pashtun traditions. I apologise for this. What I did was wrong. People should avoid making such videos that upset others. At the moment, I am with some unidentified individuals. I have informed them that making that video was my mistake, and I will not upload such a video again.”
He was later released, though subsequent images of him showed visible bruises, suggesting he had been subjected to violence during his captivity.
The incident sparked outrage on social media, with activists, journalists, and politicians condemning the abduction. Mohsin Dawar wrote on X that the state had “outsourced its writ” in Waziristan and other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the Taliban.
Meanwhile, Pakistani squash player Maria Toorpakai Wazir, who also hails from Waziristan, posted that Zafran Wazir was abducted for filming Aina playing cricket and forced to apologise for giving hope to girls across the Pakhtun belt.
“But we will not be silenced. Proud to be from Waziristan. Proud to keep fighting so every girl is free to play,” she wrote.
The episode has once again brought attention to the challenges faced by girls seeking education and opportunities in conflict-affected regions like North Waziristan, where aspirations often collide with insecurity and rigid social constraints.
An aspiring seven year old
Aina’s uncle, Manzoor, told Voicepk that Aina had developed an interest in cricket at the age of three, when her late father began taking her to local tape-ball tournaments in the area. She would play alongside boys in the village, receiving encouragement and support from the community.
Aina belongs to Sheega Zalokhel village in Tehsil Sheewa, an area where incidents of terrorism and quadcopter drone attacks have become frequent. For the past several months, curfews have regularly been imposed across North Waziristan at night, restricting people’s movement after dusk.
In a light hearted tone, Manzoor said that Aina had formed her ‘own five-member team’, for which she is captain. “Her team has already won three trophies”, he joked. “On a serious note however, she is good at both bowling and batting, but bowling is her favourite and strongest skill,” he said. Many social media users have even gone so far as to compare the girl’s bowling action to that of former South African fast bowler Dale Steyn.
Describing her daily routine, Manzoor said that Aina walks nearly three kilometres each day to attend the only girls’ school in the area.
After returning home, she attends religious classes and then begins practising cricket around dusk. He added that she is completely unaware of the fact that women also play cricket at the international level and only follows men’s cricket.
“Her favourite bowler is Naseem Shah, and as a batsman she likes Babar Azam,” he said.
In Waziristan, girls are often discouraged from leaving their homes as they approach their teenage years and are confined within the household. Many girls’ schools are either non-functional or exist only on paper for salary purposes. Functional schools have more than often been targeted and destroyed by militants.
Instead of speaking at length about cricket, Aina expressed a simple wish.
“I want the government to build a good school for us because we don’t have one. I want to get a good education. And I request the government to support me in my studies so that I can help my family.”
According to official figures, the female literacy rate in North Waziristan stands at around 18 percent, compared to approximately 47 percent for males, highlighting a stark gender disparity. There is also a very high dropout rate and there are several cases of early marriages.