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Attack on Srilankan cricket team in Lahore

Pakistan's minister of state for shipping, Sardar Nabil Ahmed Gabol, accused India of being behind the assault, saying the gunmen had crossed into Pakistan from India. No other Pakistani officials have made such accusations.

http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINDEL47800020090303

He seems desperate to make GoP look down.
 
Hmm... let's see how many of those parties give a flying **** about Sri Lanka or it's cricket team... 2 from what I can count, both are sister organizations.

For the same reason they have targetted a less powerful country team instead of say England or India or Australia.

The motive could be to spread Panic in Pakistan or to bleed pakistan economically by projecting Pakistan a unsafe for the visiting teams whether it is cricket or any other sport or Sri Lankan team is being targeted by LTTE for obvious motives. So, nothing is clear at this stage as to what is the motive behind attack. A detailed investigation can only throw up the clues regarding who did the attack and why they did it.
 
guys stop this mindless finger pointing and pray for the 5 policemen who laid down their lives to protect cricketers may god give their families and kids courage to deal with this ghastly deed and give them strength to deal with this loss
amen
 
I agree people are engaging in finger pointing, but it is hardly mindless. Some of the reasonings, and theories seem quite compelling, in the absence of more concrete evidence, which will surely emerge.
 
guys stop this mindless finger pointing and pray for the 5 policemen who laid down their lives to protect cricketers may god give their families and kids courage to deal with this ghastly deed and give them strength to deal with this loss
amen

I hope our government does them the honour of catching the scum behind all this. Prayer is good, but action is what is needed.

As for this forum, debate and theories backed by valid reasoning should be expected.
 
A sad day for cricket,heck they are going to shift the WC venue now.
This will seriously hurt Pakistani cricket.Whoever did this wanted the Pakistanis to be isolated internationally.
 
Firstly i start by saying my hats off to these proud and resilient jawans of the elite Police who laid down their lives in the line of duty. In the great mellee that has followed this attack, their great sacrifice should not be forgotten.
Secondly my sympathy to the Sri lankan team who came to Pakistan when pakistan cricket needed them the most. I am so relieved that they have escaped with only minor injuries.
Thirdly, my commisserations to the ordinary fan of pakistani cricket, who unaware of all the chaos around him, just wants to watch a great game being played between two great cricketing nations. We have all indeed been insulted by this dispicable attack, which isnot only against our national pride but also contrary to our standards of hospitality, and everyone knows Pakistanis know how to take care of our guests.
being a proud pakistani and a cricket fan i am horrified that any pakistani could have even thought of attacking a cricketing guest of the nation. I would not hesitate to say that even Taliban, inspite of their misdirected hate, do enjoy cricket and would not carry out an attack of this nature.
My analysis is based on postings by the forum members and the news that have arrived so far. Although i may raise a few points, it must be understood that I think we have to analyze these critically, and and not emotionally.
Mr Gabols statement is irresponsible as there is no proof in this matter as yet of Indian involvement. By the same token, Mr mukherjee,s statement is also baseless as nothing has yet come to light.
If you analyze the situation , you have to take into account who stands to gain and who stands to lose. Nobody denies the fact that it is Pakistn___and more importantly Pakistani cricket that has lost everything.
So the next question is who stands to gain. Let us take all the elements in this conspiracy and see what we come out with. As i have already said, this is an ANALYSIS, based on fact at hand___ which at the moment are incomplete!!
Talibanfactor:- Every terror act in this cou ntry has been blamed on the taliban or their sympathizers(LeTand other such organizations are included) They gain notoriety, and can hold the Government to ransom. the fact that they have the power to organize such attacks is a worrying factor.
However, a few factors go against them.If they wanted to cause chaos, they would have tried their trademark suicide bomber. They could also have held the team hostege which would have gained them international exposure plus a few more comrades freed. i am unable to see the actual footage at the moment, but purely from the analytical point of view. the planning appears to have gone against this. the plan appeared to be to cause terror, without minimal damage to the team, and malign/implicate pakistan or a faction within it.
The taliban have also previously only attacked military or governmental targets . From the publicity point of view, it will cause them immense damage not only amongst their followers but also in repurcussions as all repurcussions would be massive. All in all possible but unlikely!!
Tamil Tigers:- Considering their losses and their desperation in the recent past, it would be a good opportunity to teach the Sri lankans a lesson, or shoot a shot across the bow(proverbially). i say this based on the fact that even though they had rocket launchers and grenades, which they tired and missed with, the misses may have been intentional.
Factors against would be the fact of distance ,considering they are beseiged, to treck all the way from Sri Lanka into pakistan, with all the ammunition(?? Indian made) language difference, familiarity with terrain. the above factors would mean a long latency period---(perhaps why it was organized in Lahore rather than Karachi). Again possibility but in view of above factors less than likely.
India!! I am sorry to say this as i know that it may start a flame war--- which is not what i want !! Of All the players and suspects in this game, India seems(at least on paper) the most likely!! An attack on pakistani cricket will kill many birds with one stone. It will kill Pakistani cricket in one great sweep, as it will ensure that no team visits us for at least 3-5 yrs. It iwll be a good tit for tat for Bombay__ if at all Bombay was organized by PAkistan. It will ensure further flight of capital, erode pakistani image in the world even further. in fact the list is endless__. Another factor to take into account is that even tamils could not have operated in lahore without indian help.
The only thing that i can say against it is it is so easy to understand that it is too good to be true. Also attack on cricketers in Pakistan could lead to a retaliatory move by pakistanis which india might not want for various reasons.
External hand other than India:-- Pakistan has many enemies and there is a great game being palyed in this arena at the moment. One of the ways is to organize a confrontation between India andPakistan, in order that the nations may fight it out but their own country/ countries Is/are preserved. There is a lot tobe said for this . All the loss to pakistan,s reputation and economy aside, it would further reinforce that it is a hotbed of terrorism(which is partly true) and therefore its Nukes are a danger to world peace. Again it kills many birds with one stone without any significant loss of lives(lives of the Brave pakistani police men does not count for them). Also loss of lives in the Indo pak theatre becomes irrelevant to them as it is not their own folks. it may also redirect attention from the Afghan border, which is a headache for them.
I dont think current US administration would be in favour of such an attack for varoious reasons, mostly because they want to reestablish trust between them and PA. however, other forces may not necessarily care. All in all a possibility, also from the logisitics point of view, hiring a few merceneries from the region would not be too difficult.
PPP/PML:- It is possible that PPP/PML may have organized it. it is interesting that it took place in Punjab, which has previously been reasonably stable. It captures the nations attention and diverts it from the tussle between it and the PML and also form the long march. It is not beyond the people who are in power and the political and international repurcussions could be dealt with by the same rhetoric of "we lost our leader to this terrorism". It is also possible to redirect it in any direction.
Iwould welcome debate on all the issues, in an analytical frame of mind.
WaSalam
Araz
 
I would like to add another theory to what araz mentioned.
May be they tried to take hostages but failed due to the resistance from police.
It also explains why did not blow up the buses.
 
I noticed while watching some footage on TV, arms recovered were handled without any care. Somebody just put his hand inside the bag and pick hte pistol in it. This will surely not help Pakistan in there investigation.


tx
 
Mahendra Singh Dhoni speaking from Napier said that he is glad that they did not tour Pakistan.

Very Nice statement by Indian Cricket Captain. He must Condemn the attacks First. Before he makes Anti Pakistani Statements.

Yes Mr Dhoni your BCCI link in ICC and This Current Indian Involvement have Done Wonders for Cricket in Pakistan.
 
I hope next time there is a similar event in Pakistan, SSG would have a presence. Not saying the police did a bad job, they did great, but how sweet would it have been to have killed all but one terrorist...
 
Let me tell One thing to all Indian members here, If Pakistan will not Host Cricket Matches, India will suffer as well, Bangladesh will Suffer as well and Srilanka has already Suffered.

The whole Sub-Continent Can Loose Cricketing Image. BCCI needs to Support Pakistan Instead of Making efforts to Cancel Pakistani Venues for ICC world cup.
 
I hope next time there is a similar event in Pakistan, SSG would have a presence. Not saying the police did a bad job, they did great, but how sweet would it have been to have killed all but one terrorist...

CM Punjab Made Efforts for Srilankan Team's Security but PPP Govt Changed all the top Command of Police and Administration just few days back Don't forget that.

Punjab is Under Governor's Raj and Governor of Punjab was Busy in Making False Propaganda sheet against PML/N when attacks happened no Body was paying attention to the security of Srilankan Team Members, Just Two/four Police Mobile Pick Ups are not Enough for the security of Foreign teams when Enemies of Pakistan are just waiting for a chance to strike.
 
Gunmen wound Sri Lanka cricketers in Pakistan attack
LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) – A dozen gunmen attacked Sri Lanka's cricket team on Tuesday with rifles, grenades and rockets, wounding six players and a British coach and killing at least eight Pakistanis in Lahore, officials said.

The attackers fired AK-47s and rockets and hurled grenades at Sri Lanka's team bus as it was being driven to Lahore's Gaddafi stadium for the third day of a match against Pakistan.

Team captain Mahela Jayawardene said the gunmen first shot at the tires then at the bus itself.

"We all dived to the floor to take cover," he told Reuters by telephone from the stadium, before being evacuated by helicopter along with the rest of the team, including all the wounded.

At least eight people were killed in the attack, which lasted close to 30 minutes, including six police, according to statement from Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani's office.

The driver was hailed as hero for steering the bus to safety as gunmen sprayed it with bullets from all sides and players screamed "go, go, go."

"I was turning the bus toward 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," driver Mehar Mohammad Khalil told Reuters, standing beside his bus.

The driver of a bus following behind, carrying the Australian umpires, was killed.

Bomb and gun attacks, mostly carried out by Islamist militants linked to the Taliban or al Qaeda, have become commonplace in Pakistan over the past few years because of the government's support for the United States.

Tuesday's incident had echoes of an attack on the Indian city of Mumbai last November in which around 170 people were killed and which led to the Indian cricket team cancelling its planned tour of Pakistan. The Sri Lankan team accepted an invitation to replace the Indians.

Westerners in Pakistan knew they could be targeted, but few analysts could divine any reason for attacking the Sri Lankans, other than to send a message that no visitors were safe.

INDIA ACCUSED

India blamed the Mumbai attack on Pakistan-trained militants and the incident brought international pressure on Pakistan to crack down on jihadi groups that its security agencies have been friendly with in the past.

The group blamed by India for Mumbai, Lashkar-e-Taiba, came from Pakistan's Punjab province, whose capital is Lahore.

"One thing I want to say, it's the same pattern, the same terrorists who attacked Mumbai," said Punjab Governor Salman Taseer.

A Pakistani minister accused India of being behind the attack.

"The evidence which we have got shows that these terrorists entered from across the border from India," Sardar Nabil Ahmed Gabol, minister of state for shipping, told Geo television. "This was a conspiracy to defame Pakistan internationally."

Witnesses saw gunmen with rifles and backpacks running through the streets and firing on people and vehicles around the massive stadium in the morning attack. Television footage showed some of the attackers, who looked to be in their late teens.

The Punjab governor told reporters the assailants had been had been chased into a nearby commercial and shopping area. Police were searching buildings and stopping cars in a massive security sweep, but had lost track of the men's whereabouts.

"We don't know where they are," said Lahore Police chief Habib-ur-Rehman.

It was the first major attack on an international sporting team since Palestinian militants attacked Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich.

The attack highlights Pakistan's seeming inability to defeat militancy spreading inside and outside the country and comes at a time when the United States is putting pressure on the government to do more to fight the Taliban and al Qaeda.

Pakistan's civilian government has lurched into political crisis less than a year since ex-army chief Pervez Musharraf was forced to quit as president, and the country is braced for street agitation by opposition parties in coming days.

"I think this is a deliberate attempt to undermine the government at the time when there is a huge political crisis," respected Lahore-based journalist Ahmed Rashid said.

"WHO WOULD WANT TO INVEST IN PAKISTAN?"

"This is not only an attack on the Sri Lankan team but on Pakistan," said Shuja Rizvi, director of broking at Capital One Equities Ltd. "Who would want to invest then in Pakistan?"

The Karachi stock Exchange benchmark 100-share index fell 1.5 percent, while the rupee lost 0.4 percent against the dollar.

A spokesman for the Sri Lanka High Commission in Islamabad said six players were wounded along with assistant coach Paul Farbrace, a Briton. Most of them were hit by shrapnel.

Star batsman Thilan Samaraweera seemed to be the worst hit, suffering a thigh injury. The other Sri Lankan player admitted to hospital was Tharanga Paranavithana. Sri Lanka immediately canceled the rest of the tour.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the attacks, as Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said he was cutting short a trip to Nepal to return home.

Until this series Pakistan had gone without test cricket for more then a year because of security concerns. In 2002, a bomb exploded in Karachi while the New Zealand cricket team was touring, killing 13 people, including 11 French navy experts.

(Additional reporting by Mubasher Bukhari, Augustine Anthony, Zeeshan Haider, Robert Birsel and Sahar Ahmed in Pakistan and Bryson Hull, Charlie Austin and Ranga Sirilal in Colombo; Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Alex Richardson

The idea that Indian is doing this to embarass pakistan has to be one of the most stupid ignorant comments that I have ever heard,,,,this is what comes from from Pakistan makeing peace with the Taliban at any cost...it rates up there with the senator that was justfieing burying young girls alive because of who they wanted to marry.
 
I heard on BBC that there route was changed at the last notice, for security reasons. And yet the terrorists knew where at exactly when to attack.
 

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