The Ceylon News

NEW DELHI: India denounced ‘hopelessly inadequate’ Pakistani security after Tuesday's attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore and cited Islamabad's failure to crush militant groups on its soil.

‘The security for the Sri Lankan cricket team was hopelessly inadequate,’ Home Minister P. Chidambaram said as he condemned the assault by gunmen that left eight people dead and wounded seven team members.

The Indian government, which had ordered its players to steer clear of Pakistan, said the incident proved Islamabad was doing nothing to combat known militant networks.

‘It reminds us it is the responsibility of the incumbent government to take all precautions and all steps, particularly when the international community wants member countries to take certain positive steps to fight against terrorism,’ Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters.

‘Unless infrastructure and facilities available to terrorist organisations within Pakistan or territory under its control are completely dismantled... repetition of these incidents will take place,’ he said.

New Delhi has been pressuring Islamabad to crack down on militant groups and dismantle their training camps since the Mumbai attacks last November.

The Sri Lankan team was only in Pakistan because a tour by the Indian team had been cancelled in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.

‘It was not a pleasant decision (to cancel) but we were constrained to take it because the security situation in Pakistan was not safe,’ Mukerjee said, calling on Islamabad to “take strict measures” against those responsible.

‘This menace, which is the biggest menace... in the post Cold War era, should be tackled,’ he said

Indian foreign ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash also piled pressure on Islamabad, saying Pakistan-based ‘terrorists’ were a threat to the entire world.

‘It is in Pakistan's own interest to take prompt, meaningful and decisive steps to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure once and for all,’ Prakash said.

‘We are shocked at the incident,’ he added.

India's Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma said the attack underscored ‘the enormity of the threat’ emerging from Pakistan, while India's governing Congress party branded Pakistan ‘the epicentre and fountainhead of terror.’

‘Every country in the world must unite against this scourge by isolating the country and demanding immediate concrete results,’ Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said.

At least six security personnel were killed and up to eight members of Sri Lanka's cricket team hurt Tuesday in an attack on the team's bus by gunmen in Lahore, Pakistan.

The Sri Lankan squad had been making its way to the city's Gaddafi Stadium for the third day of the second test match against Pakistan at around 9 a.m. local time (11 p.m. ET) when the attack occurred.

Police said at least 12 gunmen opened fire on the convoy. Pakistani Information Minister Sherry Rahman told CNN that the attackers were still at large.

Up to eight players, one coach and 10 security staff were reported hurt in the attack, although most injuries were said to be minor.

Batsmen Tharanga Paranavitana and Thilan Samaraweera suffered gunshot wounds, according to the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Four more players -- team captain Kumar Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis, Suranga Lakmal, Thilin Thushara -- and assistant coach Paul Fabrece were reportedly hurt by glass shrapnel.

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."

A spokesman for the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the attack "outrageous" and said Foreign Affairs Minister Rohitha Bogollagama was rushing to Pakistan. Sri Lanka was working with Pakistan to ensure the safe return of the Sri Lankan cricketers, he said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Sri Lankan officials ruled out Tamil separatists, who have been waging a bloody civil war on the Southeast Asian island.

Witnesses who saw the attack described the scene as "pandemonium," but praised the response of security officials.

The bus driver said the convoy had come under fire as it approached the stadium with gunmen initially targeting a police car and two security vehicles in front of the bus.

"I heard two loud explosions outside the stadium and a lot of AK-47 fire," said Hamish Roberts, a camera operator who was inside the stadium when the attack occurred.

Sports producer Gavin Scovell said security teams responded quickly. "The guards were brilliant. They weren't panicking. They were very calm," Scovell said. "It must have been a terrifying experience, but they handled it well."

Pakistan, which is battling Islamist and Taliban insurgents in its North West Frontier Province, has struggled to attract visiting cricket teams in recent years because of security concerns.

In 2002 a car bomb exploded outside a hotel where the New Zealand cricket team was staying.

Last year Australia canceled a proposed tour in the wake of a series of suicide bombings. The International Cricket Council was also forced to postpone the high-profile ICC Champions Trophy after five of the eight participants pulled out.

Pakistan is due to co-host the Cricket World Cup in 2011 with India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, although the extent of its involvement in that tournament may now be under scrutiny.

Sri Lanka agreed in December to visit Pakistan after India called off a tour following November's terror attacks in Mumbai. Indian authorities blamed the attacks on Pakistan-based militants.

In a statement, ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said the attack was "very upsetting for the wider cricket family."

"We note with dismay and regret the events of this morning in Lahore and we condemn this attack without reservation," Lorgat said.

"I have confirmed with both member boards that the remainder of the tour has been canceled and we are working hard to get our match officials out of the area as safely and as quickly as possible."

Pakistan's Cricket Board had hoped Sri Lanka's tour would help it recoup some of more than $16 million it was set to lose as a result of India's cancelation.

"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?"

The Sri Lankan offer to tour was a reciprocal gesture. Pakistan was one of two countries that agreed to play in Sri Lanka during the 1996 World Cup tournament. Other countries refused to travel there because of security concerns over the country's civil war with Tamil separatists.

Colombo, March 03: The Sri Lankan cricket team, which was attacked by unidentified gunmen in Lahore on Tuesday morning, was air-lifted from the city's Gaddafi Stadium to Abu Dhabi in the UAE. The team will fly back to Colombo tomorrow.

Such an emergency measure was expected after the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajpaksa had made it clear that the players would be brought back to the homeland as soon as possible to ensure their safety and security.

"I condemn this cowardly terrorist attack targeting the Sri Lankan cricket team," Rajapaksa said in a message sent from Nepal, where he was on an official visit. He has now cut short his visit and is heading back to Colombo.

"The Sri Lankan players had gone to Pakistan as ambassadors of goodwill," he said in the statement released by his office.

Acting Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka Hussein Bhaila, while condemning the dastardly attack on sportspersons, said that, “We are not pointing any fingers at anyone, but are concerned about well being and security of players,” adding “Terrorism does not know boundaries”.

Bhaila also confirmed that two players, Tharanga Paranavitana and Thilan Thushara were hospitalised and the Sri Lankan High Commissioner is rushing to Lahore to take stock of the situation.

Divulging the details, he said that Thilan Samaraweera, who was in great form, was hit in the thigh, while a bullet grazed the chest of another player that was treated in the hospital. Also, six others suffered from cut injuries and were treated in the Gaddafi Stadium itself.

On the future course of action, Bhaila said, “We have to look at conditions, investigations before we take any decision about future tours”. He, however, defended the sending of the team to Pakistan, he said, “We had been given full security and sending the team to tour Pakistan was a joint decision of sports and foreign ministries.” He also reflected that it was about time the international community joined hands to combat the terror menace. The immediate measure also gives credence to the reports that the situation in Lahore is still not under control and that the encounter is still going on between the armed forces and the terrorists.

The terrorists who are thought to be 12 in number, had fled the scene of crime after a brief exchange of fire and efforts to trace them have proved futile despite assurances from the Pak establishment.

There are also reports that two car bombs have been diffused and a huge cache of arms has been recovered from the vicinity of Pakistan’s biggest cricket stadium.

Earlier, The Sri Lankan Sports Minister, Lokuke Gamini, confirmed that six players were injured. The injured players are: Thilan Samaraweera, Tharanga Paranavitana, Kumar Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis, Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Thushara. Also, Ehsaan Raza, the fourth umpire of the match, who was in the team bus is said to be critical.

George Binoy: Terror struck at the heart of cricket when masked gunmen attacked the bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Five cricketers, including Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lankan captain, and his deputy Kumar Sangakkara, received minor injuries. The attack also left six security men and two civilians dead. Duleep Mendis, the Sri Lanka Cricket chief, said that they were "getting the team back [to Sri Lanka] today".

6:47 George Binoy: Sri Lankan team to be evacuated

Ijaz Butt, the PCB chief, has said the Test has been called off. Salman Tasheer, the Punjab governor, said a helicopter will soon evacuate the Sri Lankan players from Gaddafi stadium and take them to a nearby airbase from where the team will fly back to Sri Lanka.

The reserve umpire Ahsan Raza was also injured in the attack. Nadeem Ghauri, the TV umpire, who was traveling in a bus behind the Sri Lanka team bus said the firing continued for some time. He said the bus driver was critically injured in the attack.

Umpire Steve Davis, who was on the team bus, called the terrorist attack “terrible”. “I’m lost for words,” he said.

6:48 George Binoy: Team to take first available flight home

Sri Lanka's foreign secretary Palitha Cohona has confirmed that the team will return today. He said they hoped to take the first available flight. He said that six players were hurt and that the players were being evacuated from the stadium and taken to a safe play. He's praising the Pakistan authorities for their cooperation and is appalled that a sporting team has been targeted in this manner.
6:49 George Binoy: Samaraweera and Paranavitana most seriously hurt

Our sources tell us Samaraweera and Paravitarana were the ones most seriously injured and have been taken to hospital. they had shrapnel wounds in the chest and hamstring which have been dressed and they are doing fine.
6:50 George Binoy: BCCI, CA condemn attacks

The BCCI issued a release expressing its "sorrow and anguish over the dastardly attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team at Lahore. We pray for the speedy recovery of the injured cricketers, and sympathize with their families and compatriots.

Cricket Australia chief executive officer James Sutherland said Australian cricket was shocked to hear the news. "Australian cricket has many friends in Sri Lanka and in Pakistan and we sincerely hope they are all safe after this awful incident,” he said. “Early reports are unclear but we are deeply saddened to hear reports that security officials in Pakistan have been killed in this attack."

This is what the Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse had to say. "I condemn this cowardly terrorist attack targeting the Sri Lankan cricket team," Rajapakse told AFP. "The Sri Lankan players had gone to Pakistan as ambassadors of goodwill."

6:50 George Binoy: Indians in NZ shocked

NDTV are reporting that there's shock among the players in the Indian dressing room in New Zealand ...

India were scheduled to tour Pakistan but the trip was cancelled after the terror attacks in Mumbai by Pakistan-based terrorists. Sri Lanka stepped in to fill the gap for Pakistan. Pakistan are scheduled to host the Champions Trophy later this year ...

6:50 George Binoy: How the attack happened

The Sri Lankans were on their way to the Gaddafi Stadium when their bus was attacked by five armed terrorists near Liberty market. Habibur Rehman, chief commissioner of police, said 12 masked terrorists fired at the Sri Lankan team bus. The gunmen shot at the wheels of the bus and also injured the driver. A grenade was also thrown at the bus but it missed.

"The bus came under attack as we were driving to the stadium, the gunmen targeted the wheels of the bus first and then the bus," Mahela Jayawardene told Cricinfo. "We all dived to the floor to take cover. About five players have been injured and also Paul Farbrace [a member of the support staff], but most of the injuries appear to be minor at this stage and caused by debris."

Lahore police chief Habib-ur Rehman said, "They appeared to be well-trained terrorists. They came on rickshaws." Television footage of several gunmen creeping through the trees, crouching to aim their kalashnikovs then running onto the next target were aired by Pakistan's private channel Geo, AFP reported. Crystals of broken glass littered the road next to a gun cartridge and an empty rocket-propelled grenade launcher. A police motorbike was shown crashed sideways into the road at the Liberty Chowk (roundabout) in Lahore. Bullet holes ripped through the windscreen of another vehicle and a white car was shown smashed headlong into the roundabout as nervous security officers guarded the site.

6:51 George Binoy: Concerns have come home to roost - Dickason

Reg Dickason, the security expert hired by England and Australia, said " A lot of concerns we raised during the Champions Trophy have unfortunately come home to roost. The notion of sporting teams being a protected species was held by many, but it was not a view that we shared, unfortunately."
6:52
George Binoy: Two car bombs defused

Pakistan police’s disposal unit inspector Abdul Ghafoor said that two car bombs had been defused, one at Liberty Square and the other at Firdus Park.

"We have defused a bomb in a white Hyundai and after some time we got information about a suspect car in the Firdus car park. We also defused the bomb there," he told AFP. Local sector warden Malik Fayyaz told AFP that grenades, three kilograms of explosives, a pistol and a one-metre detonating cable had been recovered.

6:52 George Binoy: Terrible and very sad - Miandad

"It has never happened before in Pakistan, sports persons haven’t been targeted," Javed Miandad told GEO TV. "It’s terrible and really sad. It looks like a well-thought and planned assault. Sri Lanka and Pakistan have always helped each other. They have never said no to tour Pakistan and have always helped us in troubled situations. The foreign teams were already not coming and this [incident] is going to affect Pakistan cricket in the future. This is not to say that cricket will stop. The world will have to stay united and fight terrorism. I hope they just don’t say they won’t tour Pakistan. If we do that we will only support the terrorists’ cause."

6:58 George Binoy: ICC statement on the Lahore attack

“We note with dismay and regret the events of this morning in Lahore and we condemn this attack without reservation," said Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive."



“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. At this time our thoughts and prayers are with the injured people and also the families of those who have died."



“I have confirmed with both Member Boards that the remainder of the tour has been cancelled and we are working hard to get our match officials out of the area as safely and as quickly as possible. I know, also, that the Pakistan Cricket Board is working with Sri Lanka Cricket to make sure the players are flown home at the earliest opportunity.”
7:00
Update: Inzamam to GEO TV

Inzamam-ul-Haq to GEO TV, “This is the first time that a cricket team has been seriously targeted. This is the most serious incident that has ever happened. Pakistan’s image will be hit and only time will tell how much damage has been done to Pakistan cricket. The World Cup too might be affected. Preparations for the world cup will start much before 2011 and no country would want to come now to Pakistan. As I said, we will know the extent of damage to our cricket in some time. So I am worried where Pakistan will get a chance to play, not only in Pakistan but outside as well. This is all so sad.”

7:03
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7:10
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7:16
Update: Samaraweera and Paranavitana out of danger

Samaraweera and Paranavitana were the most seriously injured but they are out of danger. "The two players are in hospital but are out of danger," Mendis told reporters adding "we are trying to get the team out of Pakistan as early as possible".
7:21
Update: Lawson "shocked and very very sad".

"I am shocked, and very, very sad," Lawson told Cricinfo. "It was an honest belief we held (that sporting teams would not be targetted by terrorists), and it is tragic that this has happened. I have been looking at the footage on TV and I know that area very well. I have a lot of friends over there and have been in contact."
7:25
Update: More reactions from Lawson

"Cricket won't be played in Pakistan for the forseeable future," Lawson told Cricinfo. "Pakistan look like they will become a wandering cricket team now. They will be playing at neutral venues, because you can guarantee that there won't be games there. Obviously, there is no chance of the Champions Trophy or the World Cup going ahead there."

7:28
Update: Security is priority - Modi

“We were fearful of the fact that cricketers may be targeted. It’s a very sad day for cricket that players have been targeted in Pakistan.” Modi told NDTV. “I think India is a very safe country. Yes we have had our share of attacks in the past. We are going to be extremely strict and tight in our security measures going forward. It is top most priority for us.”

7:30
Update: Sky news are reporting that the route of the Sri Lankan convoy was changed following the threat yesterday
7:37
Update: Nadeem Gauri, the TV umpire, to GEO TV: As soon as the bus reached the liberty market, we heard the noises of gun shots. We hid under the seats. The driver got shot and he died at the spot. The firing continued. The other umpire Ahsan Raza also got shot. All the umpires are safe now. Police squad got us to the airport.
7:37
Update:

Rameez Raja: I was entering through Ferozpur gate – this incident had happened near Liberty market gate – I heard the blast and the commotion. I never thought we will face a situation like this in Pakistan where sportspersons will be targeted. We have to get united and fight the terrorists. The civil society, sportsmen have to wake up and raise their voice. Time for staying quiet is over. Sri Lanka have always helped us and they are our friends in the cricketing world. Our way of life has been targeted. Our favorite pastime – cricket- has been targeted. Younis Khan’s triple ton garnered positive headlines across cricketing world. People had started to come in to watch and we were hoping that cricket would revive in Pakistan. Then this has happened.
7:45
Update: Sri Lankans airlifted out of Gaddafi Stadium

A helicopter landed on the centre pitch at Gaddafi stadium in Lahore. The Sri Lankan cricketers and support staff hurried towards the chopper, dragging their luggage. Some of the cricketers took pictures of the helicopter before boarding it. They will be flown to the airport from where they will leave for their country via Abu Dhabi.

Abdul Qadir to GEO TV: I don’t have words to express. This has never happened before in history. Cricket is such a sport that is loved across towns, cities and gullies in Pakistan. I had gone to the hospital and met Samaraweera and Tharanga. They were in the same room. I told them the country will be eternally grateful for coming to Pakistan to play.

7:52
Update:

New Zealand prime minister John Key said he was “very concerned at this turn of events, where an international sports team has been targeted by terrorists”.
8:00
Update:

We’re shocked but everyone is OK – Sangakkara

"There are a few injuries but everyone is safe and all the players are out of danger,” Kumar Sangakkara had told CNN IBN. "We are shocked, but apart from that everyone is okay. Thilan [Samaraweera] has a shrapnel wound in his leg, but he is fine. [Tharanga] Paranavitana had shrapnel in his chest, but thank God it wasn't very deep and just on the surface.

"I had shrapnel injuries in my shoulder, but they have all been removed and I'm okay now. Ajantha [Mendis] had shrapnel in his neck and scalp, but he too has had medical attention and is fine. Everyone else is perfectly all right.

"It's very unfortunate that this has happened. Everything had gone on very well until this morning, but it just goes to show that nothing is as it seems. I don't regret coming here to play cricket because that's what we have been doing all our lives. That is our profession.

"But I regret this incident, what has happened and the situation that we have had to go through. All we want to do now is to go back home to our families, get back home and be safe."

8:12
Update:

Attacks "frightening" - NZC chief

Justin Vaughan, New Zealand Cricket’s chief executive, said the attacks were “frightening” and that New Zealand would conduct a security review before their tour of Pakistan later this year.

"It's very frightening that for the first time a cricket team are what appears to be the specific target of terrorist action," Vaughan told NZPA. "That's never happened before -- previously all the incidents have been about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is a very different proposition and I think just a very frightening one for world cricket."

New Zealand are scheduled to play in Pakistan in November. "The tour is scheduled for November, and that's eight months away," Vaughan said. "We would be doing a security review prior to any commitment to the tour and that would normally take place around June or July. You'd have to say this would throw further doubt over that tour, but we don't make those sort of decisions off the cuff like that. This is really serious."
8:15
Update: Priority is safety and security of SL team - Lorgat



Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief, termed the attacks in Lahore on the Sri Lankan team bus as “pretty, pretty serious” and said that the repercussions could be severe for Pakistan’s cricket.





“It is pretty, pretty serious and it is very obvious that the landscape and the thinking has changed dramatically,” Lorgat told Cricinfo. Lorgat said the ICC’s top priority now was to arrange a safe trip back home for the Sri Lankan team. “Our priority is safety and security of the Lankan team and how to get them back home.”





Asked if the future of international cricket was in jeopardy in Pakistan at least in the immediate future, Lorgat said it would be too early to make any conclusive remarks but admitted it looked uncertain for the moment. “We are going to have to reevaluate what we do and where Pakistan plays its cricket.”







Lorgat also said that the terror attack in Lahore had come as an “absolute shock” for him because last year the ICC had done an assessment of suitable venues for the Champions Trophy and Lahore was listed as a safe place to play.

8:22
Update:

Wasim Akram said that Pakistan hosting the World Cup in 2011 was now a “distant dream”



"I don't want to talk about cricket alone. The attacks are unwarranted and have put Pakistan to shame. Please pray for us," Akram told ESPNStar. "I don't know who has done this but any attack on our guests is simply uncalled for.



"We should stand united under the circumstances and the world should understand that terrorism is now a universal concern. I can see a similar hand working in Mumbai and India must now know that Pakistan are equally at the receiving end.”



"How do you expect a foreign team to come to Pakistan now? We took pride in hosting our guests. This image has taken a beating. It's sad for Pakistan.”
8:25
Update: Pakistan's next assignment is an ODI series against Australia in the UAE. Cricket Australia's spokesman, Peter Young said: "We do not expect this to effect the series (in the UAE). We are due to complete a security inspection tour at the end of the week, and that is expected to go ahead as planned. "
8:27
Update: Waqar Younis on Geo Tv: "We pride ourselves on being a loving sporting nation but if these kinds of things happen, well it’s really sad. This is not good for our society or for our cricket. We wanted foreign teams to come and play but now it looks remote. Hopes of hosting World Cup is also receding. We have to agree with whatever ICC decides. People will refuse to travel to our part of the world."
8:32
Update:

The Australian Cricketers’ Association said the attack on the Sri Lankan team would have a “lasting impact” on the game in Pakistan.



"It is one of those things, you know the risk is pretty large in that part of the world in Pakistan, but there has always been a belief that sports people will not be targeted and I am just stunned," ACA’s chief Paul Marsh told AFP. "It is very sad that it has come to this for all the cricketers and Pakistan cricket in particular. This is not their doing but I am sure the fallout from this is going to have a lasting impact on Pakistan cricket and the future of the game in Pakistan."

The team was attacked while on the way to Lahore's main Gaddafi stadium [Reuters] At least five Pakistan policemen have been killed and up to six Sri Lankan cricket players wounded by armed men in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore. The attackers, reportedly armed with Kalashnikovs and hand grenades, targeted the Sri Lankan team's bus on Tuesday near the city's main Gaddafi cricket stadium, where Pakistan has been playing Sri Lanka in a test match. Haji Habibur Rehman, Lahore's chief of police, said there were about 12 attackers, who "appeared to be well-trained terrorists". "Five policemen who were providing protection to the team sacrificed their lives," he said. Al Jazeera Sports Click here to return to the Sports page TV footage showed gunmen with backpacks firing at the convoy as they retreated from the scene, several damaged vehicles and a lone, unexploded grenade lying on the ground. Rehman said one cricket player had suffered a leg injury and another was shot in the chest, but neither injury appeared life threatening. A helicopter later landed to evacuate the uninjured members of the Sri Lankan cricket team from the stadium. Cricketers hospitalised Police were still pursing the suspected attackers, and have taken one man into custody. Daniyal Hassan, a journalist with Dawn News who was at the scene, said the attack occurred "very close to the local police station". "The shooters had fled and no one could see in what direction [they went] ... but at this point they are definitely at large," he said. A Sri Lankan ministry official said Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavitana were the cricketers hospitalised. In depth Timeline: Pakistan under attack Read a witness account on the Lahore attack He said three other players were slightly injured and that Trevor Bayliss, the team's head coach and an Australian national, also sustained minor wounds. Sri Lankan cricket officials said the test match has been called off after the shooting, and that they are working to get the team out of the country as soon as possible. Sri Lanka's cricketers were invited to Pakistan after India pulled out over security concerns. Security experts defused two car bombs and recovered a stash of weapons including grenades, three kilogrammes of explosives, a pistol and a detonating cable after the deadly ambush, the AFP news agency reported. Security 'problems' It was unclear who was behind the assault on Tuesday, and no one has yet claimed responsibility. Pakistan has seen a wave of violence in recent years, and some foreign sports teams have refused to play in the country because of security concerns. Sri Lanka has also seen attacks in the country's north and in the capital Colombo as government forces claim to be on the verge of crushing Tamil Tiger rebels and ending a decades-old civil war. Authorities will be looking possible links to Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger fighters, but military officials in Sri Lanka's have said they do not believe the group was responsible for the Lahore attack. Hasan Askar-Rizvi, a Lahore-based defence analyst, called the shooting a "daredevil, well-planned, and well-executed attack which shows the strength of terrorist forces in Pakistan". "[It] shows the problems in the security system of Pakistan," he told Al Jazeera. Askar-Rizvi said he suspected the attackers' target was not specifically the Sri Lankan cricket team, but rather, to make headlines and embarrass the Pakistani government. Mumbai 'pattern' The Sri Lankan government condemned the assault as "cowardly" and said it was immediately dispatching the country's foreign minster to Pakistan. Five police officers escorting the Sri Lankan team were killed [Reuters] Salman Taseer, governor of Punjab province, meanwhile, likened the shooting to a strike in the Indian city of Mumbai last year in which 179 people were killed when armed men began opening fire indiscriminately at popular tourist sites. "I want to say it's the same pattern, the same terrorists who attacked Mumbai," he said. "They are trained criminals. They were not common people. The kind of weaponry they had, the kind of arms they had, the way they attacked ... they were not common citizens, they were obviously trained." Laskhar-e-Taiba, the group blamed for the Mumbai attack, comes from Pakistan's Punjab province, of which Lahore is the capital. The International Cricket Board quickly moved to condemn the Lahore attack. "We note with dismay and regret the events of this morning in Lahore and we condemn this attack without reservation,'' Haroon Lorgat, the board's chief executive, said in a statement.

Gunmen have attacked a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team on its way to play in the Pakistani city of Lahore.

At least five members of the Sri Lankan cricket team were injured and five Pakistani policemen escorting the team bus were killed.

Pakistani officials said about 12 gunmen were involved and grenades and rocket launchers have been recovered.

The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the incident will come as a big blow to Pakistani cricket.

Pakistan invited Sri Lanka to tour after India's cricket team pulled out of a scheduled cricket tour following the deadly November attacks in the western Indian city of Mumbai.

Match cancelled

Officials in Lahore said two members of the Sri Lankan team had bullet wounds.

Others are thought to have received minor injuries.

It was a very heavy firing and I heard at least two explosions at the time Eyewitness In pictures: Cricketers attacked

"Five [of our] cricketers have injuries, but they are OK. But the players are shocked. They have never gone through anything like this before," former Sri Lankan player Sanath Jayasuriya told an Indian news channel on the phone from Colombo.

The Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse condemned the "cowardly terrorist attack", and ordered the players to be evacuated home immediately.

The gunmen opened fire on the Sri Lankan team bus which was on its way to the Gaddafi stadium, venue for a Test match between the two sides.

The third day of play in the Second Test was scheduled to begin, but officials said the match has now been cancelled.

TV pictures showed two gunmen with backpacks on the road where the incident happened.

According to Lahore police chief Habibur Rahman, "10 to 12" attackers came to the scene in auto rickshaws.

Thilan Samaraweera, who scored a double century in the ongoing Test match, is one of those who is in hospital.

Grenades and rocket launchers had been found at the site of the incident, police said.

Shop owner Ahmed Ali said two policemen had been driving behind the team bus when the attack happened.

"It was a very heavy firing and I heard at least two explosions at the time," a witness told Reuters.

Security fears

India and Australia have pulled out of cricket tours in Pakistan in the recent past citing security concerns.

Meanwhile, the sport's world governing body, the International Cricket Council, last month decided not to hold the 2009 Champions Trophy in Pakistan due to safety worries.

The eight-nation tournament was to be held in September and October.

Pakistan, along with India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are due to jointly host the Cricket World Cup in 2011.