Monday, March 2, 2009

LANKAN CRICKET TEAM UNDER ATTACK :Five Lankan players injured in attack, tour cancelled

SriLanka's tour of Pakistan was cancelled on Tuesday after about 12 unidentified gunmen opened fire and injured the visiting players, including Kumar Sangakkara, Thilan Samaraweera and Ajantha Mendis near the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore this morning.Seven to eight Sri Lankan players are believed to have received bullet wounds after the gunmen surrounded their team bus and opened fire while they were on their way to the stadium. Today was the third day of the second Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.Two of the players are believed to be seriously injured, according to the security officer of the Gaddafi stadium.According to GEO TV, five policemen who were part of the security ring for the Sri Lankan players were killed on the spot, while two died in the hospital.Apart from firing at the team, even grenades were lobbed at the Lankan team bus and rocket launchers were reportedly used.The security in-charge of the Gaddafi stadium was also quoted as saying that some Sri Lankan players were still inside the stadium and that star spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was safe.The Lankan team media manager said the team taken to high security zone.Cricinfo's Sri Lanka editor Charlie Austin said there was some explosion before the firing started. He also said that skipper Mahela Jayawardene had also been hit in his ankle.The Pakistan team has been stopped from reaching Gadaffi and are being taken back to the hotel.According to reports reaching here, the area has been cordoned off and Kalashnikovs have been recovered from the spot.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

And the official Pakistani response is -

But a Pakistani minister, Sardar Nabil Ahmed Gabol, reportedly told private Geo TV that evidence suggested the attackers came across the border from India.

He said the assault came in reaction to the Mumbai attacks, and was a “declaration of open war on Pakistan by India”.

- That is off the BBC website, please feel free to check:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7920260.stm

That said as an Indian citizen my thoughts and prayers are with the families of the Lahore police that died in this dark hour. May the gods bless their loved ones.

Anonymous said...

this attack on Sri Lanka's unsuspecting Cricket team is tragic because of the deaths and because of the long term effect this will have internationally