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A Picture grab shows a body lying inside an ambulance after an attack by unidentified gunmen
in Lahore March 3, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)


Pakistani policemen inspect a damaged police van at a shooting site in Lahore March 3, 2009.
(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)


A video grab shows gunmen firing in the direction of a police vehicle in Lahore March 3, 2009.
(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Video1: Sri Lanka's cricket team attacked in Pakistan - 3 March 2009
Armed men in Pakistan have targetted the Sri Lanka cricket team on their way to a test match in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore. At least six Pakistani police officers were killed in the attack and several cricketers wounded.
Al Jazeera's Harry Fawcett reports.

The gunmen fired at a police vehicle in Liberty Chowk in Lahore, the capital city of Punjab, leaving five policemen dead, said the report.

The policemen were escorting a Sri Lankan cricket team and when they came under attack, according to the DAWN NEWS.

The team was close to Gaddafi Stadium in the city when the incident occurred.

The attackers carrying automatic rifles also opened fire at the bus carrying Sri Lankan team and injured four players.

The area around the stadium has been cordoned off after the firing incident.

Police said that the Sri Lankan team was not targeted and it was a firing incident between two rival groups.

The DAWN NEWS TV channel quoted Capital City Police Officer Haji Habibur Rehman as saying that there were 12 terrorists in the city and they were trading fire.

He confirmed that the encounter between policemen and terrorists continued for 30 minutes.

Haji Habibur Rehman said the incident was similar to the Mumbai attacks.

All 14 gunmen escape after deadly attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore,
March 3, 2009, Soure: Timesonline

Up to 14 gunmen are on the run after a terror attack on the Sri Lankan national cricket team today in which seven cricketers were hurt and at least seven people died.

Heavily armed attackers working in pairs opened fire on the team's tour bus and a minibus carrying match officials, as their convoy was on the way to the third day's play in the second Test against Pakistan at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore.

Six policemen and a minibus driver were shot dead. Despite the injuries to the Sri Lankan players, the team appears to have had an almost miraculous escape. The shocked players told how the attackers fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the bus, but missed.

Grenades were also rolled underneath the wheels of the bus, but failed to go off, and although the gunmen aimed at the driver of the team bus, he was unhurt and was able to drive out of the ambush.

The driver was hailed as hero for steering the bus to safety. "The gunmen targeted the wheels of the bus first and then the bus," said the Sri Lankan captain, Mahela Jayawardene, who was among the injured. "We all dived to the floor to take cover."

Another driver, Mehar Mohammad Khalil, said: “I was turning the bus towards the stadium near the main roundabout when I saw a rocket fired at us. it missed us and hit an electric pole, after which all hell broke loose."

Ehsan Raza, the fourth umpire, who was travelling in the match officials' minibus, is in a critical condition after being shot in the abdomen. Chris Broad, the British match referee, shielded him with his body to prevent his being shot again.

Experts defused two car bombs and recovered grenades, three kilograms (6.6 pounds) of explosives, a pistol and a detonating cable apparently dumped by the attackers.

"It was terrible. The van driver died in front of us. I am lost for words," said Steve Davis, one of the match umpires.

The attack happened at about 8.40am local time (04.40GMT). The gunmen converged from four directions as the bus navigated a roundabout in Bank Alfalah Square, a smart area lined with designer boutiques. Three arrived on rickshaws.

Local television channels showed CCTV footage of the attackers spraying the team bus and police with automatic fire from AK-47 assault rifles, working in pairs, using walkie-talkies and wearing backpacks over civilian dress.

Sajid Munir, 30, an immigration officer, told The Times that he was having breakfast with his wife in the Capri restaurant, about 50 metres from the attack site, when he heard two or three explosions.

“After that they started firing – too much firing,” he said. “It went on for about 30 minutes. They had machine guns. We were very scared. We thought they would come and shoot the people in the restaurant next.”

He said he saw two of the gunmen driving away on a motorbike.

“The driver was wearing a white shirt with blood down the front,” he said. “We don’t know who these people are, but I don’t think they are human. This is very bad for Pakistan and for cricket.”

Seven members of the Sri Lankan national side were hurt: Jayawardene; Kumar Sangakkara, the batsman and vice-captain, who was treated by the team doctor for shrapnel in his shoulder; Ajantha Mendis, a bowler, who was hit in the back by shrapnel; and bowlers Suranga Lakmal and Chaminda Vaas, who were also treated at the scene.

Two players were hit by bullets and taken to hospital – Thilan Samaraweera, who was struck in the leg, and Tharanga Paranavithana, who was hurt in the chest – but both were said to be stable.

Paul Farbrace, the team's British assistant coach, was hit in the arm.

Jayawardene and Sangakkara had been given assurances that the team would be safe before they agreed to tour.

None of the 14 or attackers was killed or captured at the scene, said Haji Habibur Rehman, the Lahore police chief.

The Pakistani authorities immediately blamed Lashkar-e-Taiba, the banned Islamist militant faction that is widely believed to have struck Mumbai in November.

The head of Pakistan’s Interior Ministry, Rehman Malik, said that the country was “in a state of war” and would track down the perpetrators of the attack.

“We will flush out all these terrorists from this country,” he said.