Attack bore LeT signs: Experts
The attack on Lankan cricketers in Lahore bear the signs of a Lashkar-e-Tayiba-style attack, terror experts say. Experts say it is typical of the LeT to carry out such attacks after security agencies cracked down on its leaders. The attack, they say, goes on to prove that despite claims of dismantling its top leadership, the outfit is capable of striking at will.
Flashback 2002: source livemint
In 2002, a bomb exploded in Karachi while the New Zealand cricket team were touring, killing 13 people including 11 French navy experts. The tourists, based at the Pearl Continental Hotel, were preparing to depart for the National Stadium for the start of a test match when a car exploded outside the nearby Karachi Sheraton. New Zealand called off the tour within hours of the attack.
Acting Sri Lankan foreign minister Hussein Bhaila “also confirmed that two players, Tharanga Paranavitana and Thilan Thushara were hospitalised and the Sri Lankan High Commissioner is rushing to Lahore to take stock of the situation.Divulging the details, he said that Thilan Samaraweera, who was in great form, was hit in the thigh, while a bullet grazed the chest of another player that was treated in the hospital. Also, six others suffered from cut injuries and were treated in the Gaddafi Stadium itself.” linkPunjab Governor, Salmaan Tahseer, claimed that no Sri Lankan player was critically injured in the attack and all are safe at the moment (www.zeenews.com)
Aussie umpire tells of terror attack
Sri Lankan cricket team attacked in Pakistan
By RIZWAN ALI – Associated Press Writer
LAHORE, Pakistan — A dozen masked gunmen armed with rifles and rocket launchers attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team as it traveled to a match in Pakistan on Tuesday, wounding several players and killing five police officers, officials said.
The assailants ambushed the team’s convoy at a traffic circle close to the main sports stadium in the eastern city of Lahore ahead of a match against Pakistan’s national team, triggering a 15-minute gunbattle with police guarding the vehicles.
None of the attackers were killed or captured at the scene, said city police chief Haji Habibur Rehman said. Authorities did not speculate on the identities of the attackers or their motives.
TV footage showed gunmen with backpacks – apparently the attackers – firing at the convoy as they retreated from the scene, with several damaged vehicles and a lone, unexploded grenade lying on the ground.
A Sri Lankan foreign ministry official said two players – Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavitana – were hospitalized. He said three more players were slightly injured and that the head coach, Australian Trevor Bayliss, also sustained minor injuries. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Squad member Kumar Sangakkara told Sri Lankan radio station Yes-FM that “all the players are completely out of danger.”
“Luckily there’s nothing serious and everyone is fine,” he said.
Police chief Haji Habibur Rehman said five policemen died in the attack by 12 masked gunmen.
Authorities cancelled the test match and the Lahore governor said the team was flying home.
The attack will surely mean the end of international cricket in Pakistan for months, if not years. Even before, most teams refused to tour the country because of security concerns. It will also have implications on the game’s future in South Asia, its most lucrative market.
“It is terrible incident and I am lost for words,” said Steve Davis, an Australian who was umpiring the match.
Nadeem Ghauri, a Pakistani umpire who witnessed the attack, said the umpires were behind a bus of Sri Lankan players when suddenly they heard gunshots.
“The firing started at about 8:40 and it continued for 15 minutes,” he said, adding “our driver was hit, and he was injured.”
A driver of one of the vehicles in the convoy told Pakistan’s private Express news channel that he saw a man firing a rocket toward their van and then some one hurled a grenade, but the weapons missed their vehicle.
Gunmen attack SL cricketers in Lahore
March 03, 2009 10:11 IST
Last Updated: March 03, 2009
Gunmen killed at least four people in an attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team’s bus on Tuesday as it drove to the Gadaffi stadium in Lahore, according to witnesses and cricket officials.
Sri Lankan media, quoting the sports minister, said four players received minor injuries in the attack — Kumar Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis, Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavithana.
Pakistan television channels said four people were killed.
A witness told Reuters he believed two police commandos were killed along with a regular policeman and a traffic warden. Shopkeeper Ahmed Ali said the two police commandos had been driving behind the team bus when they were hit.
“It was a very heavy firing and I heard at least two explosions at the time,” said a Reuters witness who had been on his way to cover the Test match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka .
Pakistan only invited the Sri Lanka team to tour after India’s team pulled out with security concerns following the militant attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai [Images] in November.
According to PTI, the incident took place when the Sri Lankan team was attacked by around 10 armed gunmen near the Liberty Chowk which is close to the stadium.
“The firing took place from at least four sides and continued for some minutes,” one police official said.
One explosion was also heard at the stadium, PTI adds.
The attackers later escaped in separate groups.
The liaison officer of the Pakistan team said players of the host nation have been sent back to the hotel.
“The Sri Lankan players are presently safe at the Gaddafi stadium [Images] and they are getting treatment,” one PCB official told PTI.
Sources also claimed that the police had received a threat on Monday that the Sri Lankan team would be attacked so a different route was used to transport the team to the stadium.
“The firing took place from at least four sides and continued for some minutes,” one police official said.
“There were 12 masked gunmen,” Lahore police chief Habib-ur Rehman told reporters, adding that police battled against the assailants for about 25 minutes.
“They appeared to be well-trained terrorists. They came on rickshaws. They were armed with rockets, hand grenades, kalashnikovs,” he said.
Television channels aired footage of at least two of the gunmen, one of them wearing shalwar kameez and other jeans and a jacket. Both were armed with assault rifles and carrying backpacks.
Police cordoned off the area immediately after the attack and launched a search for the gunmen. The driver of the cricket team’s bus drove away from the spot immediately after the firing started.
“We are assessing the situation,” Pakistan Cricket Board chief Ejaz Butt said.
“Five policemen who were providing protection to the team sacrificed their lives,” he added. End
Attack came despite change in Lankan team route
Sheela Bhatt, March 03, 2009
“It was a daring attack on Sri Lankan cricketers by around a dozen young gunmen, reminding one of the Mumbai terror attacks [Images],” says well known Pakistani editor Hamid Mir, speaking to rediff.com from Islamabad [Images].
He said given the threat perception for the Sri Lankan cricket team, they had taken a different route on Tuesday and yet were attacked.
“From their hotel, Pearl Intercontinental in Lahore [Images], to the cricket stadium they usually go through the road along the canal. But today they took the route through Liberty market,” he said.
According to reports, the gunmen were carrying weapons in sacks and were dressed like college students.
From their appearance they looked like Ajmal Kasab, who was among 10 terrorists who attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008.
Mir says around eight to 10 gunmen came from one side and four to five gunmen came from the other side to attack the cricketers. When the security commandos took up position to protect the cricketers they were hit by the bullets, killing four of them.
In view of the Mumbai attacks and because of the threat to security to its cricketers, India had refused to send its team to Pakistan but Sri Lanka agreed to replace them. The current attack is one more severe setback to the image of Pakistan as an unsafe place for foreigners.
Mir says, “We are not surprised. Similar attacks are being carried out every day in Swat valley. Today it has happened before the full glare of the media.” He said the timing of the attack is significant.
Interestingly, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon had recently met his Sri Lankan counterpart, and communication channels between the two nations were just opening up.
Hamid Gul, former chief of Inter Services Intelligence, has quickly blamed the Indian external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing for the attack.
Mir added, “It is difficult to say who attacked the Sri Lankan team,” and refused to comment on Gul’s allegation against India. He also pointed out that the Lashkar e Tayiba was not opposed to the Sri Lankans.
Islamic Terrorism in India 