Sri Lanka cricketers attacked in Pakistan

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

At least a dozen men ambushed Sri Lanka's cricket team with rifles, grenades and rocket launchers yesterday as they drove to the stadium ahead of a match in Pakistan, killing six policemen and a driver.

The attackers struck as a convoy carrying the squad and match officials reached a traffic circle meters from the main sports stadium in the eastern city of Lahore, triggering a 15-minute gun-battle with police guarding the vehicles.

Seven players, an umpire and a coach were wounded, none with life-threatening injuries. The assault was one of the worst terrorist attacks on a sports team since Palestinian militants killed 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

The attackers melted away into the city, and none was killed or captured, city police chief Haji Habibur Rehman said. Authorities did not speculate on the identities of the attackers or their motives, but the chief suspects will be Islamist militants, some with links to al-Qaida, who have staged high-profile attacks on civilian targets before.

The attack came three months after the Mumbai terror strikes that killed 164 people. Those raids were allegedly carried out by Pakistan militants, and the assault in Lahore resembled them in many respects. Both were coordinated attacks, used multiple gunmen, apparently in teams of two, who were armed with explosives and assault rifles and apparently had little fear of death or capture.

Two Sri Lankan players - Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavitana - were being treated for bullet wounds in a hospital but were stable, said Chamara Ranavira, a spokesman for the Sri Lankan High Commission.

Umpire Ahsan Raza was hit in his abdomen, medical Superintendent of the Services Hospital, Mohammad Javed, said.

Team captain Mahela Jayawardene and four other players had minor injuries, the Sri Lankan Cricket Board said. Ranavira said British assistant coach Paul Farbrace also sustained minor injuries.

Haider Ashraf, another police officer, said six policemen and a driver of a Pakistan Cricket Board vehicle were killed. Sri Lanka had agreed to this tour - allowing Pakistan to host its first test matches in 14 months - only after India and Australia postponed scheduled trips.

Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said little could be done to stop such an attack.

"I think the Pakistani authorities have provided adequate security but as we know from experience ... there is never enough security to counter a well organized and determined terrorist group."

The head of the International Cricket Council has condemned the attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team.

"We note with dismay and regret the events of this morning in Lahore and we condemn this attack without reservation," ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said in a statement. "It is a source of great sadness that there have been a number of fatalities in this attack and it is also very upsetting for the wider cricket family that some of the Sri Lanka players and one match official have been injured in this attack."

Pakistan faces isolation

Pakistan is the co-host of the World Cup along with India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Former Pakistani cricket great Waqar Younis also feared for the future of cricket in Pakistan. "We talk about foreign teams being provided top security but after what happened today I don't see any team coming to Pakistan for a while," he said. "Even the ICC will now find it hard to allow the World Cup matches to be held in Pakistan. It is gone."

Meanwhile, a senior Pakistan board official has urged the international cricket community not to isolate the country.

"I will only say what happened today is a great tragedy," PCB director of human resources Wasim Bari told reporters. "But at a time when terrorist attacks are taking place all over the world, Pakistan should not be abandoned or isolated."

"It is very easy now to just say 'lets stop going to Pakistan'," he added. "But we need the support of the international cricket community. We can hold international matches. Terrorists have tried to hit cricket targets in other countries as well."

Former Sri Lanka coach Trevor Penney never believed there'd be a terror attack on a cricket team in Pakistan because the people were so passionate about the sport.

"In Asia we've always felt that that wouldn't happen," Penney said in Perth, Australia. We thought, ’they would never target cricketers because even if they were terrorists they still loved their cricket.’"

Australia captain Ricky Ponting released a statement from South Africa saying he'd been in touch with the Sri Lankan team "to express our deepest condolences." "An act of violence like this is a terrible thing and when it involves those who are part of our cricketing family, players the world over are affected," he said.