SriLankan team attacked in Lahore
on March 3rd, 2009 at 4:39 am
Five security men have been killed and two injured when unknown persons attacked Sri Lankan cricket team here on Tuesday.
According to sources, unknown attackers riding on motorbikes opened fire on Sri Lankan cricket team bus near Gaddafi Stadium.
Intense trade of fire occurred between police and unknown attackers after the attack. Five security men have been killed and two injured who were shifted to hospital. Police have cordoned off the area.
Several Sri Lankan players reportedly sustained injuries in the incident. Pakistan team has directed to stay in the hotel whereas Sri Lankan team has been shifted to Gaddafi Stadium.
Manager cricket team told Geo News that Pakistan cricket team will go to stadium after getting the security clearance.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan sports minister has confirmed that two Sri Lankan player wounded in the attack whereas government of Punjab said firing incident is aftermath of rivalry between two land grabber groups.
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Five Sri Lankan players have been injured in a terrorist attack near the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Mahela Jayawardene, Ajantha Mendis, Kumar Sangakkara, Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavitana are those who are being treated in hospital for minor injuries.
The Sri Lankans were on their way to the Gaddafi Stadium when their bus was attacked by five armed terrorists near Liberty market. A top security official said that five policemen were killed in the shoot out. The incident puts the ongoing second Test in doubt.
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The Punjab Government initially regarded as cross firing between two rival land grabbing mafia groups, but now the reports suggest that it was a targeted terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team. What was the motivation behind this attack and which group is behind it is not known yet, there are powers who want to see Pakistan declared as an unsafe country and are funding and financing such attacks, there is also political strife going on in Lahore after the disqualification of Shahbaz Sharif PML-N is staging protests every where in Punjab and at some places the demostrations have not been so peaceful the real cause of the attack and the people behind it has not been identified yet.
MASKED gunmen have opened fire on the Sri Lankan cricket team’s bus in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore, killing at least eight people and wounding six players.
Lahore police chief Habib-ur Rehman said 12 gunmen today attacked the convoy near Lahore’s Gaddafi stadium with rockets, hand grenades and automatic weapons and were involved in a 25-minute shootout with the security forces.
“They appeared to be well-trained terrorists. They came on rickshaws,” he said.
A police official said two civilians and six police officers who were guarding the players were killed in the attack which happened as the team was heading for the third day’s play in the second Test against Pakistan.
Gallery: Sri Lankan cricketers attacked
Television footage of several gunmen creeping through the trees, crouching to aim their Kalashnikovs then running onto the next target were aired by Pakistan’s private channel Geo.
Broken glass littered the road next to a gun cartridge and an empty rocket-propelled grenade launcher. A police motorbike was shown crashed sideways into the road at the Liberty Chowk (roundabout) in Lahore.
Bullet holes ripped through the windscreen of another vehicle and a white car was shown smashed headlong into the roundabout as nervous security officers guarded the site.
Sri Lankan authorities said six players were believed to have been wounded though earlier reports said eight had been injured.
Local police officer Mohammad Suhail said two players had bullet injuries but were “in a stable condition”.
In Sri Lanka, Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge said Tharanga Paranavitana and Thilan Samaraweera had been taken to hospital in Lahore.
Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardena was also slightly wounded in the foot.
Samaraweera is one of Sri Lanka’s leading players. He became only the seventh batsmen in Test cricket to notch a double hundred in consecutive matches on Monday, scoring 214 after a 231 in the drawn first Test.
The shooting came as the Sri Lankan army pushed its final offensive against ethnic Tamil Tiger rebels in the north of the country in a civil war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
Fears of attacks by Islamic militants linked to al-Qaeda have caused many teams to postpone or cancel cricket tours to Pakistan in recent years.
Australia earlier this month forced Pakistan to change the venue of a one-day series to the neutral venues of Dubai and Abu Dhabi when the two sides meet in April-May this year over security fears.
Australia, which also played Pakistan in three Tests at the neutral venues of Colombo and Dubai in 2002, has not toured Pakistan since 1998.
India also refused to send its team across the border amid heightened tensions in the wake of attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai, which New Delhi blamed on militants based in Pakistan.
Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are due to jointly host the cricket World Cup in 2011.
Last month, Pakistan’s cricket chief vowed to improve security arrangements for the 10th edition of the four-yearly event and denied there was a risk associated with staging some of the games in the troubled country.
Last month, security concerns raised by other teams forced the ICC to move the 2009 Champions Trophy out of Pakistan.
The elite eight-nation Trophy was to be held in September-October this year but the ICC was to announce a new venue in April.
The event was originally scheduled for last year but was put off after South Africa pulled out of the event and Australia, England and New Zealand showed reluctance to tour because of fears about players’ safety.
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It’s the end of International cricket in Pakistan for forseeable future, at least two SriLankan players have suffered bullet injuries , Srilankan team is flying back home on the earliest available flight, at least five security personel gave their lives while protecting the SriLankan team in a 25 minute shoot out, People of Pakistan are indebted to the SriLankan team and Nation forever.
Those attackers are still in the city, they should be caught alive and the people behind those terrrists should be exposed.
The future of cricket not only in Pakistan but in the rest of the world has also become endangered, the attackers have created a dangerous precedent, terrorists groups in India, Bangladesh and other countries will copy this attack. It’s a shame that our world has turned into such a violent place.
Nesta
I didn’t noticed the caption until SB pointed it out there were only two videos available and I posted both of them now I have removed the whole post.
Anil
I can see teams not coming to Pakistan in foreseeable future, but the rest of your statement is just your wishful thinking and I don’t agree with it.
Terrorist attacks in India and elsewhere in the world are no different than the attacks which took place in Pakistan, life goes on.
We live in a dangerous world.Let me tell you one thing the objective of this attack was to just destabilize Pakistan and make it look like a dangerous place for foreigners, but a dangerous precedent has been set these tactics will be copied in other parts of the world by different terrorist groups. So don’t enjoy it my friend.
Very Unfortunate!Pakistan Governament failed to provide proper security measures to the Lankan Team.I dont think that Pakistan can resume the Political and sport relationship with the rest of the world after this incident.No any country neither tour in Pakistan nor invite the team to their country ,not only for cricket but any sport
I don’t think any Pak politician could have gained anything politically from this attack, it’s completely idiotic and foolish to even think of such a thing.
I also don’t think that the mullahs or extremists did this as they only target westerners they have no enimosity with the SriLankans. Cricketers have never been a target of Jehadis in the past and if it is an act of terror done by the Jehadis then no venue or country is immune from them. They have a global reach.
The attackers were very well trained and the attack has a lot of resemblance with the Mumbai attack.
They planned a lot of damage but thanks to those who gave up their lives a major disaster was prevented several suicide jackets, rocket launchers grenades and heavy automatic rifles were seized, at least two car bombs were also difused.
The attackers were well prepared but just because of the fierce fighting with the commandos their attack failed and they had to retreat. They threw a grenade on the bus which luckily failed to explode. Their intentions become quite clear if one sees the number of bullet holes in the bus, I don’t think there was a lapse in security as otherwise the players would not have survived.
There are two theories floating around, one there is a group which wants to destroy India Pak relations, and then there is a group which is blaming the neighboring country as most of the weapons found are made in India according to the news channels.
A few of the attackers have been killed and the rest escaped, private security guards of Model town arrested four individuals police has completely cordoned off the whole area and hopefully these guys will get aressted within 24 hours.
It is unfortunate as cricket won’t be safe anywhere in the world now. Whosoever did this attack has set a dangerous precedence, copy cats and attention seeking terror groups can target other teams on foreign soil in future.
unfortunate…very unfortunate wasim…
unfortunate…very unfortunate…wasim…