By IANS,
Lahore/Colombo : Six policemen were killed and at least six Sri Lankan cricketers injured Tuesday when heavily armed gunmen attacked the team cavalcade when it was on its way to the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore. The cricketers were evacuated by an army helicopter as Sri Lanka cancelled its Pakistan tour.
Salman Taseer, governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province, said the attack in the heart of lahore was the handiwork of the same terrorists who struck in Mumbai in November last year.
“It was a planned terrorist act on the pattern of the attack on Mumbai. I believe the same terrorists are involved in both the incidents,” Taseer told reporters.
Pakistani authorities have announced the formation of a special investigation team to probe the attack.
The team bus, which came under attack at about 8.45 a.m. at the Liberty Market crossing close to the stadium where the squad was going for the third day’s play in the second Test from their hotel, was riddled with bullets.
Pakistan Cricket Board sources said the van carrying the match umpires also came under attack, leaving the umpires’ liaison officer Abdul Sami injured. One of the umpires Ahsan Raza was reported to be critically injured.
The driver of the Sri Lankan team’s bus claimed that a grenade had been thrown under the bus, but did not explode.
Lahore police chief Habibur Rehman said 12 terrorists armed with rocket launchers and hand grenades carried out the attack and the exchange of fire lasted for about 25 minutes.
“The attackers had come by rickshaws,” he told reporters, confirming that five security personnel escorting the team had been killed – including two commandos.
All the attackers made good their escape, leaving behind a huge quantity of weapons and ammunition. A car suspected to have been used by the attackers was impounded.
The Sri Lankan High Commission said in a statement: “Members of the Sri Lankan Cricket Team have received minor injuries including Kumar Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis, Suranga Lakmal and Thilina Thushara and Assistant Coach Paul Farbrace. Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavitana have been admitted to the Lahore Hospital.”
Later, Samaraweera and Paranavitana were brought back to the stadium and flown to the airport on a Pakistan Air Force helicopter for their return journey to Colombo.
Most of the other players had already been flown to Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore to be flown back home.
Pakistan Cricket Board’s Director Operation Zakir Khan and one of the doctors working with the board are accompanying the returning players.
Pakistan Television (PTV) televised live the departure of the Sri Lanka cricketers from the stadium. They were seen off by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt.
In Colombo, there was concern and worry.
Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary P. Kohona said he had spoken to the Pakistani authorities and had been assured of all help.
“It is appalling that anybody should have targeted a sporting team in such a brutal manner. The attitude of targeting sportsmen must change,” he said.
Father of the outgoing team skipper Mahela Jayawardene said his son had called his wife from Lahore to say that he too had suffered minor injuries in his leg during the attack that had shocked the nation.
The Sri Lankan team was in Pakistan to play in place of India that had pulled out of the series after the Nov 26-29 Mumbai carnage that was blamed on Pakistani terrorists.
Sri Lankan Embassy’s Third Secretary Chamara Ranaweera expressed concern about the future of cricket in Pakistan after the attack.
He said it was courageous of Sri Lanka to agree to play in Pakistan in the present circumstances, but the incident carries serious implications for cricket in Pakistan.