WHO WAS BEHIND LAHORE 3/3 Terror Attacks

[hembo]

Lahore terror attack: the unanswered questions
(Mohsin Raza/Reuters)
A bullet hole in the window of the Sri Lankan team bus

Jeremy Page, Lahore and Times Online
This week's terrorist attack in Lahore on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team, in which eight people were killed and eight Sri Lankan test players wounded, has left a host of unanswered questions that have prompted talk of a conspiracy and accusations that the gunmen were acting on inside information.

Why was the Pakistani team delayed?

The question was raised by Chris Broad, match referee: “On the first two days [of the Test] both buses left at the same time with escorts. On this particular day the Pakistan bus left five minutes after the Sri Lankan bus. Why?”

Simon Taufel, an umpire added: "One thing I have been impressed about in Pakistan as that logistically they are usually very well organised. They normally depart on time,"

Younis Khan, Pakistan team captain, confirmed the delay: "Thank God we decided to leave our hotel five minutes after the Sri Lankans."

Given it was delayed, was the security escort split between the two teams (Pakistan and Sri Lanka)?

Muttiah Muralitharan, the Sri Lankan spin bowler, said: "Normally all the buses go and we have four or five escorts. We left at 8.30am, and Younis Khan at 8.35am. We divided into two."

How many police vehicles and officers were protecting the Sri Lankan team when it was attacked?

Mehar Mohammed Khalil, driver of the Sri Lankan bus, said the police escort comprised four vans, each carrying six armed officers, and four police outriders on motorcycles.

Chris Broad said: “There was not a sign of a policeman anywhere. They had clearly left the scene and left us to be sitting ducks."

Why were the police unable to kill or capture any of the gunmen?

Mr Khalil said: "I thought it was very strange that the bullets fired by the elite police didn't hit the attackers."

Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka team captain, added: "They [the gunmen] were not under pressure ... nobody was firing at them."

If the teams were promised presidential level security (jamming devices, bullet-proof vehicles etc), why was it not provided?

Chris Broad and the players said Pakistani officials had promised to give them “presidential style" security as part of efforts to convince them to make the trip. “I am extremely angry we were promised high-level security and in our hour of need that security vanished and we were left just open to anything,” he said.

To what extent did the political turmoil in Punjab contribute to the crisis?

Almost all the senior posts in Lahore City and Punjab provincial police have been changed in the previous few days since President Zardari's party took control of the province.

 

[ajpirzada]

Lahore attack: Important forensic evidence lost

yes now even if they capture any one of those terrorists, it will be hard to varify if he is really one of them. anyways first thing is to capture those terrorists. i think enough forensic evidence can still be collected. they had bag packs and a lot of other stuff

 

[hembo]

Pakistan Cricket Ambush Controversy Focuses on Security
By Barry Newhouse
Islamabad
05 March 2009


Pakistani officials continue to search for gunmen who participated in Tuesday's ambush of the Sri Lankan cricket team, but have announced no arrests. The security provided to the players and the police response continue to draw criticism.


Players of Pakistan's national hockey team lay flowers to pay tribute to Pakistani police officers, in Lahore, Pakistan, 04 Mar 2009
Foreign players and umpires who came under fire have returned home, but they are continuing to criticize the Pakistani security forces charged with protecting them.

The gun, grenade and rocket attack killed seven Pakistanis and wounded six Sri Lankan players and their assistant coach.

Australian umpire Steve Davis was traveling in a van with other umpires behind the Sri Lankan team bus.

"We were certainly left without any security in our van when we were being fired upon. Security obviously went with the Sri Lankan bus when they managed to get away - but we were left there and no one came back for us," he said.

Pakistan's top cricket official has dismissed similar claims by other players and umpires, citing the six police who died trying to protect the convoy.

Video footage of the attack filmed by Pakistani news crews, as well as security camera tapes from shops near the ambush site, showed attackers almost casually fleeing. One camera filmed two attackers walking down a commercial street, carrying assault rifles, before hopping on a motorcycle and driving off.

Critics of the security now include former President Pervez Musharraf, who made a rare appearance before reporters to lament the damage done to cricket in Pakistan. The former general criticized the police commandos' inability to kill any of the gunmen.

"If this was the elite force I would expect them to have shot down those people who attacked them," said Mr. Musharraf. "The reaction, their training should be on a level that if anyone shoots toward the company they are guarding, in less than three seconds they should shoot the man down."

Terrorism-related violence has surged in Pakistan in the past year, but there has not been a corresponding rise in the number of people convicted on terrorism charges.

The Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, in Islamabad, says nearly 8,000 people were killed in terrorist attacks in 2008, more deaths than the previous three years combined. The number of attacks last year reached nearly 2,600, including 63 suicide attacks.

But while dozens of suspects are frequently rounded up, they are rarely convicted.

Tasneem Noorani is a former interior secretary with extensive experience in law enforcement. When asked to name the last high-profile terrorism conviction in Pakistan, he cites the July 2002 verdict against the killers of American reporter Daniel Pearl.

"A lot of other cases, somehow the prosecution or the investigation does lose its way, I think the administration and prosecution agencies they are overwhelmed by the cases and by the time one case is in the spotlight, something else happens and the attentions get diverted, and I think that is one area where the government has to give a better account of itself," he said.

In Lahore, police said they have some strong leads and have detained several people, but they have not announced any charges.

 

[ajpirzada]

yonus khan also said that he himself decided to leave slightly late coz players were tired after being in the field for last two days....

and i personaly think political turmoil did have a significant impact. all the top security officials who knew that there was a possibility of such an attack got changed.

 

[Gurkha]

hahaha indians love to dream up scenarios. take a look at this:

Indian fighter jets violate Pakistan air space

Updated at: 5 PST, Saturday, December 13, 2008

[

ISLAMABAD: Indian fighter planes Saturday violated Pakistan’s air space by entering two places in Kashmir and Lahore.

Planes of Pakistan Air Force (PAF), which were already on alert, quickly came into action and forced the India’s fighter jets to leave Pakistan air space, Geo TV sources said.

The sources further said that the Indian planes were fully equipped with warheads.

Why are thumping your chest? Despite that editorial fancy about 'warheads' it's still a massive failure.

The PAF failed to detect and intercept these fighters in time before they entered your airspace over a major city and whats worse you didn't down the offending aircraft or force escort. They almost buzzed a major city. This was highly successful probing by the IAF if you look at it objectively.

Last time the PAF violated Indian airspace the IAF was able to intercept and escort and eventually downed the aircraft when it deviated from his escort. This too was in remote area and wasn't ever near a major patrol target with higher response times. Just saying.

 

[ajpirzada]

Why are thumping your chest? Despite that editorial fancy about 'warheads' it's still a massive failure.

The PAF failed to detect and intercept these fighters in time before they entered your airspace over a major city and whats worse you didn't down the offending aircraft or force escort. They almost buzzed a major city. This was highly successful probing by the IAF if you look at it objectively.

Last time the PAF violated Indian airspace the IAF was able to intercept and escort and eventually downed the aircraft when it deviated from his escort. This too was in remote area and wasn't ever near a major patrol target with higher response times. Just saying.

please tell me u didnt join the forum to apprise us about wat happened few months back. this topic has been discussed many times and lets not deviate from the topic of this thread. if anyone else does that, plz ignore.
anyways welcome to forum

 

[Gurkha]

please tell me u didnt join the forum to apprise us about wat happened few months back. this topic has been discussed many times and lets not deviate from the topic of this thread. if anyone else does that, plz ignore.
anyways welcome to forum

My apologies, didn't mean to hijack the thread.

 

[godsavetheworld]

yonus khan also said that he himself decided to leave slightly late coz players were tired after being in the field for last two days....

and i personaly think political turmoil did have a significant impact. all the top security officials who knew that there was a possibility of such an attack got changed.

Is that how "presidential" security is dealt with in Pakistan. A possibilty is supposed to be on paper, policing is not done on rumours especially VVIP security.

I still cant believe, why was the route taken by the Sri Lankans not coordoned off? Why werent the vans carrying match officials and the bus both bullet proof, its not like they were playing in Chicago, they were in Pakistan! security comes before everything. Was RAW also responsible for the poor functioning of Lahore police?

 

[ajpirzada]

Is that how "presidential" security is dealt with in Pakistan. A possibilty is supposed to be on paper, policing is not done on rumours especially VVIP security.

I still cant believe, why was the route taken by the Sri Lankans not coordoned off? Why werent the vans carrying match officials and the bus both bullet proof, its not like they were playing in Chicago, they were in Pakistan! security comes before everything. Was RAW also responsible for the poor functioning of Lahore police?

ya even i cant believe that. this was such a desaster. only few policemen along the route would have saved the day. and y r u bringing RAW into the discussion while quoting me??????? learn to read. i never mentioned raw or did i??

 

[Omar1984]

Lahore attack perpetrators identified: Taseer

Updated at: 2029 PST, Thursday, March 05, 2009

LAHORE: The security agencies have identified the perpetrators of the deadly ambush on the Sri Lankan cricket team, Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer told reporters on Thursday.

"We have identified the people who did the operation," Taseer told a news conference here.

Up to 12 men attacked the convoy of officials, coaches and players, firing automatic weapons, grenades and a rocket launcher as the vehicles approached the cricket ground in the city of Lahore. The attackers fled without a trace.

"We have a lot of information. We have arrested many people, rounded up some suspects, but the final investigation will be presented to me tomorrow (Friday); till then I am not in a position to say more," he said.

Lahore attack perpetrators identified: Taseer - GEO.tv

 

[dabong1]

I thought it would be obvious that the coach would be bulletproof......and it wasnt!
Someone needs to get sacked

 

[ajpirzada]

Lahore attack perpetrators identified: Taseer

Updated at: 2029 PST, Thursday, March 05, 2009

LAHORE: The security agencies have identified the perpetrators of the deadly ambush on the Sri Lankan cricket team, Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer told reporters on Thursday.

"We have identified the people who did the operation," Taseer told a news conference here.

Up to 12 men attacked the convoy of officials, coaches and players, firing automatic weapons, grenades and a rocket launcher as the vehicles approached the cricket ground in the city of Lahore. The attackers fled without a trace.

"We have a lot of information. We have arrested many people, rounded up some suspects, but the final investigation will be presented to me tomorrow (Friday); till then I am not in a position to say more," he said.

Lahore attack perpetrators identified: Taseer - GEO.tv

lets see wat comes out of this initial investigation...

 

[Gurkha]

I thought it would be obvious that the coach would be bulletproof......and it wasnt!
Someone needs to get sacked

I think some people here are too busy writing theses about RAW/LTTE/Klingon/Taliban axis even down to blaming their irregular bowel movements on RAW.

Which makes me laugh because I consider RAW to be the biggest joke in our Subcontinent judging by the string of failures this decade on their watch. Bunch of idiot IPS graduates IYAM.

This knee jerk reaction has some similarity to Mumbai as during the week after some politicians were too busy whipping up people instead of addressing massive failures in Coastal Defence and Police/Fire response. Thankfully they were addressed eventually.

 

[DarkStar]

I think some people here are too busy writing theses about RAW/LTTE/Klingon/Taliban axis even down to blaming their irregular bowel movements on RAW.

Which makes me laugh because I consider RAW to be the biggest joke in our Subcontinent judging by the string of failures this decade on their watch. Bunch of idiot IPS graduates IYAM.

This knee jerk reaction has some similarity to Mumbai as during the week after some politicians were too busy whipping up people instead of addressing massive failures in Coastal Defence and Police/Fire response. Thankfully they were addressed eventually.

Quite funny coming from you, considering that when Manmohan Singh catches a cold, the blame for sending the offending virus is advertantly aportioned to the ISI.

Bharatias should stop being so meek and humble about the prowess of RAW.

It is arguably Asia's most successful intel. Agency, having had a hand in breaking up Pakistan in 1971. That accolade itself should be enough to dispel any thoughts of RAW comprising of 'Bunch of idiot IPS Graduates'.

 

[Energon]

Quite funny coming from you, considering that when Manmohan Singh catches a cold, the blame for sending the offending virus is advertantly aportioned to the ISI.

Bharatias should stop being so meek and humble about the prowess of RAW.

It is arguably Asia's most successful intel. Agency, having had a hand in breaking up Pakistan in 1971. That accolade itself should be enough to dispel any thoughts of RAW comprising of 'Bunch of idiot IPS Graduates'.

Actually he's right, RAW is in fact an extremely pathetic intelligence agency that runs (barely) on IPS graduates. Their past exploits have been blown out of proportion, and the stand-alone significance of their achievements has for the most part been unimpressive (if not abysmal). Also, a series of events at consistent intervals since the induction of that agency clearly indicates a heightened level of cluelesness, ineptitude and incompetence. Vows have been made to change this in light of the Mumbai bombings, but if history is to be used an indicator for what is to come, then people really shouldn't be holding their breath.

Ironically, the only people who believe in their abilities and religiously do their PR work these days are Rupee News reading conspiracy theory idiots and/or equally inadequate politicians and public figures from other neighboring states who need a strawman to justify their own ineptitude.