Gunmen sought, as cricketers return home

Sri Lanka’s cricket team returned home to Colombo early Wednesday, as police in Pakistan searched for at least 12 gunmen believed responsible for the attack that left seven people dead.

A video grab shows a suspected gunman near Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan, Tuesday.
3 of 3 more photos » Police in Lahore on Wednesday confirmed six police officers and a driver of a van carrying umpires were killed after earlier reports had put the death toll at eight.

Six team members were wounded by glass and shrapnel, and two — Tharanga Paranavitana and Thilan Samaraweera — were shot in the chest and leg, respectively. Both men were being treated in Colombo and in stable condition, officials said.

“We are very lucky that no one [sustained] any serious injuries and everyone is in good shape,” one player told reporters upon arriving in the capital. “There are a few more guys who need more time to recover. And we can hopefully put this behind us and move forward.”

The attack happened Tuesday at about 9 a.m. (11 p.m. ET Monday), as the visiting Sri Lankan team’s bus approached Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium for a match against Pakistan. See a map of where the attack took place »

The brazen daylight attack sent shock waves across the cricket-crazy region and raised fears about the future of world cricket matches in Pakistan, which has been reeling from a string of terrorist attacks. iReport: Send us your videos, photos

“The events can only be described as shocking, and we send our sympathy to the relatives of those who lost their lives,” International Cricket Council President David Morgan said at a news conference in London Tuesday. “On many occasions we’ve been told that cricketers would never be targeted in Pakistan. And this morning’s events have proved that to be quite incorrect.” Watch ICC’s reaction to the attack »

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ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said none of the teams had been threatened before Tuesday’s attack, which happened about 150 meters from the stadium in Lahore.

Investigators cannot yet say who was responsible for the ambush. Watch footage of the gunmen staging their attack »

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari praised Pakistani police, saying the officers “rose to the occasion and laid down their lives to protect our Sri Lankan guests.” He also telephoned Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to express his condemnation and regrets, and to emphasize his determination to investigate. Watch Sri Lankan’s foreign minister condemnation of the attack »

Teams have long stayed away from Pakistan, concerned about the security situation in a country that is battling an escalating pro-Taliban insurgency. But Sri Lanka — a country enduring its own civil war with separatist rebels — agreed in December to visit for a series of matches, after the Indian cricket team called off its tour following the deadly terror attacks in Mumbai in November. Indian authorities blamed those attacks on Pakistan-based militants.

The Pakistan Cricket Board had said it was set to lose more than $16 million as a result of India’s cancellation, but the Sri Lanka visit was to help it recoup most of the costs, officials said.

The Sri Lankan offer to tour was a reciprocal gesture. Pakistan was one of two countries that agreed to tour Sri Lanka during the 1996 World Cup tournament, while other countries refused to travel there because of security concerns.

With this attack, fans now worry that Pakistan won’t be able to co-host the 2011 Cricket World Cup with India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Morgan said the ICC’s board will be meeting in April to consider whether the Cup will include stops in Pakistan.

“The board will have to think very carefully about the extent to which Pakistan will be used for that event,” Morgan said. “It’s a very important event, but the safety and security of players, officials and supporters is very important and the board will be taking that into account.” Read profiles of the wounded players »

“This has really damaged Pakistan,” former Pakistani cricket player Zahir Abbas told Geo-TV. “Already some teams didn’t want to come to Pakistan. Now who will come after this incident?”

Filed under: Srilanka

Police hunt gunmen after attack on Sri Lankan cricket team

Police in Pakistan have launched an intensive search for at least 12 gunmen believed responsible for Tuesday’s deadly attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team.

A police commando carries a rocket launcher believed to be used in the attack on the Sri Lankan players.

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Seven security personnel and a driver were killed and eight players hurt — including two with gunshot wounds — in the ambush.

The Sri Lankan players were traveling by bus to Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium for the third day of a test match against Pakistan at around 9 a.m. local time (11 p.m. ET) when gunman attacked their convoy.

Video footage showed several gunmen with automatic weapons firing on the convoy from a roundabout, Liberty Square, close to the stadium.

Pakistani Information Minister Sherry Rahman told CNN the attackers were still at large.

Witnesses described the scene of the ambush as “pandemonium.”

Images showed police vehicles with windscreens punctured by bullets and front seats stained with blood. A body lay in the road in front of one bullet-shattered van.

“I heard two loud explosions outside the stadium and a lot of AK-47 fire,” said Hamish Roberts, a cameraman who was inside the stadium at the time. See a map of where the attack took place »

The driver of the team bus said a police car and two vans at the front of the convoy had borne the brunt of the gunmen’s assault. Watch footage of the gunmen staging their attack »

Among the cricketers, batsmen Tharanga Paranavitana and Thilan Samaraweera sustained the worst injuries.

Paranavitana, 26, was hit in the chest while Samaraweera, 32, suffered a bullet wound to the leg, according to Chamra Ranaveera, a Sri Lankan embassy attache. Both men are in a stable condition.

Six other players — team captain Sangakkara, Chaminda Vaas, Ajantha Mendis, Suranga Lakmal, Thilan Thushara and Mahela Jayawardene — and assistant coach Paul Fabrece were also hurt, along with one coach and 10 security staff. Read profiles of the wounded players »

A local umpire was critically injured said Haroon Lorgat, Chief Executive of the International Cricket Council. The dead driver was at the wheel of a van carrying umpires to the stadium.

“This is a very well-planned attack,” security official Nadeem Sayed told CNN. “The team is very much scared.”

Cricket manager Charlie Austin, who represents six of the Sri Lankan squad, said none of the players’ injuries were life-threatening.

“The guys are shocked. They are recovering at the moment,” Austin told CNN. “Thankfully they’ve only suffered minor injuries. They’re keen to leave Pakistan and get back to their families as soon as possible.”

Filed under: Srilanka , Cricket, police, Police hunt gunmen after attack on Sri Lankan cricket team, Sri Lanka cricket, sri lankan, terror, terrorist

SL players security hopelessly inadequate: Chidambaram

New Delhi: Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday condemned the shootout near Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium in which six Sri Lankan players were injured and said the security of the players was “hopelessly inadequate”.

 

“It is shocking,” Chidambaram told reporters, reacting to the shootout in Lahore’s Liberty Market crossing, in which gunmen with sophisticated weapons, including rocket launchers, singled out the Sri Lankan team, injuring players like Thilanna Samaraweera and Upul Tharanga Paranawitharana.

 

“It is quite obvious that security of the Sri Lankan players has been hopelessly inadequate. We condemn the shooting and we hope that players like Samaraweera and Mendis are safe and will recover,” Chidambaram said.+

Filed under: Srilanka , Chidambaram, players security hopelessly inadequate, SL players

Firing in Lahore, Sri Lanka cricket team members injured

LAHORE, Pakistan: Masked gunmen launched a brazen attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in the Pakistani city of Lahore on Tuesday, killing at least

A TV grab shows unidentified gunmen fire on a vehicle carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore. (AFP Photo) More Pictures

eight people and wounding seven cricketers, police said. ( Watch )

Gunmen attacked the team’s convoy near the Gaddafi stadium with rockets, hand grenades and automatic weapons, triggering a 25-minute gunbattle with security forces, said Lahore police chief Habib-ur Rehman.

“They appeared to be well-trained terrorists,” said Rehman, who gave no details about the fate of the estimated 12 gunmen.

Witnesses said the upmarket district Lahore’s Liberty Square, home to many designer boutiques, was turned into a battlefield as gunmen hidden behind trees opened fire.

“There was a blast first, then we heard firing. A rocket launcher was also fired at the bus which narrowly missed,” a Sri Lankan player said on condition of anonymity.

Australian freelance cameraman Tony Bennett said people inside the stadium heard explosions followed by bursts of machine gun fire.

“Next thing we knew, the Sri Lankan team bus rolls up being sprayed by bullets. Players were getting carried into the dressing room.”

Sri Lanka said it would rush its foreign minister to Pakistan after the shooting, which Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse condemned as a “cowardly terrorist attack” against the country’s “ambassadors of goodwill.”

Security experts defused two car bombs and recovered a stash of weapons including grenades, three kilograms (6.6 pounds) of explosives, a pistol and a detonating cable after the ambush.

A police official said that 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.

Television footage showed several gunmen creeping through trees, crouching to aim their weapons and then running onto the next target.

Broken glass littered the road next to a gun cartridge and an empty rocket-propelled grenade launcher. A police motorbike was shown crashed sideways near to the scene of the attack.

Bullet holes ripped through the windscreen of another vehicle and a white car was shown smashed headlong as nervous security officers guarded the site.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but fears of attacks by terrorists linked to al-Qaida have caused many cricket teams to cancel tours to Pakistan in recent years.

Pakistani officials said the attack bore all the hallmarks of the November 2008 assault on Mumbai which was blamed on Pakistan-based terror groups.

India’s immediate reaction was to say Pakistan needed to dismantle its “infrastructure of terrorism.”

Sri Lankan officials said eight members of the touring party — seven players and a coach — were wounded and that the team was immediately ending its tour of Pakistan.

Assistant coach Paul Farbrace, a Briton, and star batsman Thilan Samaraweera were kept in hospital although their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, said Sri Lanka’s Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge.

Captain Mahela Jayawardene, vice captain Kumar Sangakkara, Tharanga Paranavithana, Thilina Thushara and Ajantha Mendis suffered only minor injuries, he said.

Samaraweera is one of Sri Lanka’s leading players and earlier this week became only the seventh batsmen in Test cricket to notch a double hundred in consecutive matches.

The attack sent shockwaves through the world of cricket and raised doubts about the 2011 World Cup which is due to take place in Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

“What has happened is very shocking indeed,” said N Srinivasan, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

“We have been saying that there was a lack of security and safety in Pakistan. But this is not the time to give statements on that. At the moment our concerns are only for the Sri Lankan players,” he said.

The attack cast yet another cloud over cricket in Pakistan.

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 over security fears.

India also refused to send its team across the border amid heightened tensions in the wake of the Mumbai attacks and a spate of bombings in Pakistan over the past year.

Last month, security concerns raised by other teams forced the ICC to move the 2009 Champions Trophy out of Pakistan.

Filed under: Srilanka, Uncategorized , Firing in Lahore, Sri Lanka cricket, Sri Lanka cricket team, Sri Lanka cricket team members injured