Pak hints at Indian involvement in attack on Lanka team
LAHORE, Mar 3: Indian involvement in the terror attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team cannot be ruled out, Lahore Commissioner Khushro Pervaiz was quoted as saying Tuesday.
Pervaiz also said that security officials had successfully protected the Sri Lankan team, Geo TV reported.
India was trying to weaken Pakistan, added Gen (retired) Hameed Gul, a former chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
He told Geo News that India wanted to declare Pakistan a terrorist state and the firing on the Sri Lankan team was related to that conspiracy.
Six escorting security personnel were killed and six Sri Lankan cricketers as well as the assistant coach were injured when the team cavalcade was targeted by heavily armed gunmen close to the Gaddafi Stadium while they were going to play the third day of the second Test against Pakistan.
Reacting to the attack, India's foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee said in New Delhi: "The terrorism infrastructure facilities available in Pakistan must be completely dismantled and the perpetrators (of the attacks) brought to justice, otherwise perpetration of these types of incidents will take place.
"I request the Pakistani authorities not to divert the attention of the international community, but to take courage in both hands and dismantle the terrorism infrastructure and take stiff measures against the perpetrators. Only then will such issues be adequately addressed."
Sri Lanka Cricket Team's Bus Attacked in Pakistan - Four Players Injured
Rediff
Lahore, Mar 3: 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 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 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.
Samaraweera shot in chest: TV reports
NEW DELHI: Sri Lankan cricketers Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranawitharana were among the six cricketers injured in the attack on the cricket
team in Lahore. TV reports say that Samaraweera has been shot in the chest and is being operated upon.
Unidentified gunmen targeted the team as it was entering the Gaddafi Stadium for the ongoing Test match against Pakistan.
A Sri Lankan foreign ministry official confirmed that two players, Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavitana, have been hospitalized. He said 3-4 more players were slightly injured, including Kumara Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, 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.
IANS from Colombo reports that CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Duleep Mendis said that double centurion Samaraweera and Paranawitharana were wounded when they were entering the match venue.
Team captain Mahela Jayawardene's father said his son had just called his wife from Lahore to say that he too had suffered minor injuries in his leg during the attack that has shocked the world.
"We were just informed that our players were shot at while travelling to the match venue at Lahore. We are very concerned about the incident," Sri Lankan Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge said.
Six policemen escorting the team bus were killed in the attack that took place as the team was travelling to the Lahore venue to resume the second day's play of the second and last Test match.
Security concerns have plagued Pakistan for years and some foreign sports teams have refused to play here.