Adil Najam
In this still-developing story, unknown gunmen opened fire on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus near Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore leaving several security officials dead and several Sri Lankan cricketers were rushed to the hospital.
The News is reporting at least 5 security officials dead while The Times reports that as many as 8 Sri Lankan crickets might have been injured. However, latest reports point out that the injuries to the players are minor, although the shock is deep.
According to an earlier report from the Associated Press:
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A dozen masked gunmen armed with rifles and rocket launchers attacked a vehicle carrying members of Sri Lanka’s national cricket team Tuesday, wounding at least two players and killing five police officers, officials said.
The attack in Lahore came at a time of unrest in both Pakistan and Sri Lanka, both of whom are trying to defeat insurgencies. It was unclear who was behind the assault, but it appeared to have been carefully coordinated. City police chief Haji Habibur Rehman said five policemen died in the shooting and that two players were wounded. A Pakistan Cricket Board security official had earlier said eight players were wounded.
“It was a terrorist attack and the terrorists used rocket launchers, hand grenades and other weapons,” Rehman said, adding that the police were hunting down the attackers who managed to flee. “Our police sacrificed their lives to protect the Sri Lankan team.”
He said one wounded player was hit in the leg while the other received a bullet in the chest.
Sri Lankan team manager Brendon Kruppu said the team’s batsman, Kumar Sangakkara, was among those injured near Gaddafi Stadium ahead of a game. Rehman said 12 masked gunmen participated in the attack. Footage from the scene Tuesday showed the team’s white van with its front window shattered as security officials tried to gain control of the scene in an intersection.
Security concerns have plagued Pakistan for years and some foreign sports teams have refused to play here.Most of the violence in Pakistan occurs in its northwest regions bordering Afghanistan, where Taliban and al-Qaida militants have established strongholds. Lahore has not been immune from militant violence however, and at least one attack in recent months in the northwest has occurred next to a sports stadium. Sri Lanka appeared on the brink of crushing the Tamil Tiger rebels after more than a quarter century of civil war.
In recent months, government forces have pushed the guerrillas out of much of the de facto state they controlled in the north of the Indian Ocean island nation and trapped them in a small patch of land along the coast. The rebels, who are fighting for an independent state for Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority, are listed as a terror group by the U.S. and EU and are routinely blamed for suicide bombings and other attacks targeting civilians.
The rebels rarely launch attacks outside Sri Lanka, though their most prominent attack — the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by a female suicide bomber — took place at an election rally in India in 1991.
As reader Eidee Man wrote in his comment elsewhere on thsi blog (in alerting us to this news): “Everything is officially going to hell.”
Truth : Mumbai attackers were Pakistanis, were trained in Pakistan by Organizations which have operated in Pak with impunity.
So when Indian media said the Mumbai attackers were Pakistani terrorists , it was the truth.
That truth has now been accepted by Pakistan.
False : When Pak media speculatd that India may have anything to do with Lahore attack, it was a lie. Pak interior minister today said that they have identified the attackers and they are supposedly Al-Qaida.
So as long as you understand the difference between truth and lies, you will understand which media reaction was right and which one was wrong.
Please stop comparing Pak with India or any country. It may be more similar to Australia than India.
USA is not Nepal.
Nepal is not Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is not Sri Lanka.
Srilanka is not India.
India is not Pakistan.
Pakistan is not Iran.
Iran is not Iraq and so on…..
Got it ??
Just like other countries, Pakistan is a unique country, it has its unique set of problems , which we all knwo what it is.
So the least it can do is focus on fixing it , so that problkems coming from it dont destroy other countries.
I read through the entire 171 comments till now: It’s been three things over and over again:
– We salute the policemen who died
– Thank you Sri Lanka
– Indians show hatred even in this hour of grief..
For the policemen who died, well my salutes to them.But blame your heads if they thought a dozen policemen wud do fine..You guys had to lay down your life for no fault of yours..It would have been a happier ending if all the policemen were alive and with more support, they nabbed all the terrorists
For Sri Lanka, it is indeed a relief that none of them suffered any major injuries. But its time to learn a lesson or two. People do not say NO to security arrangements without reason..
For the third rant about how hateful Indians are., the problem is because you are fed by your media that Taliban for India is RAW for Pakistan..While it may be true to some extent, in this frenzy you forget that a destabilized Pakistan is also in Taliban’s favour. And Pakistan had been vehemently flip-flopping on its statements even with the available of irrefutable evidence about Pakistani involvement in Mumbai (well, remember the Dawn report on Kasab’s daddy!). You thought it was all too smart from your end, but never realize that frustration grows from listening to such rhetorics and utter lack of sincerity from your government.
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All in all, I do hope that both 26/11 and this attack were a blessing in disguise. Innumerable terrorist attacks couldnt get India serious about wiping terror off which Mumbai attacks have got India to this time…And hopefully this brazen attack on Sri Lankan cricketers will do the same to Pakistani govt.
Like it or not, the terrorists are winning here. International teams will be scared and will not come to Pakistan and that is exactly what these guys wanted to happen.
I hope that the idea that people had of the cricketing world showing solidarity and playing a major game to show the terrorists that they will not bow down will happen, but I don’t really think it will happen.
I really do not think that India had anything to do with this (nor did Pakistan as a country have anything to do with Bombay), but India will be more than happy to see the terrorists succeeding as long as Paksitan is hurt, and generally the cricket world is a mess anyhow. So, this only makes it a bigger mess.
Grow up. And until you do, say both India and Pakistan should be off the cricket calendar. Come to Dubai or some place safer if you want to remain in international cricket!
Aussie Cricketer: unfortunately for Australia – and the rest of the cricketing world – 70% of cricket money is generated in India. Notice how the English landed up to play cricket in India a week after Mumbai? Solidarity? Probably not. Remember how Shane Warne cried himself hoarse when there were terrorist attacks in Jaipur (his team was from Jaipur) but still went back and captained/played (and won). All posturing my dear friend. The lure of the lucre trumps basic fears. If contracts in Pakistan were anywhere near as rich as the IPL, or even the ICL – everyone would be looking for an excuse to get back to Pakistan.
So you can chest-thump about how Australia should not visit India and Pakistan. The Cricket Australia and the Australian cricketers are almost certainly finding ways to justify playing in India. “Hey Mumbai just got hit – what’s the likelihood of it being hit again?” : -)