Terrorists may have planned hostage Sri Lanka cricket team

LAHORE, Pakistan — A team of heavily armed gunmen ambushed Sri Lanka’s national cricket team as it arrived for a match, killing six police guards and wounding seven players. The brazen attack heightened fears that Pakistan is becoming increasingly unstable.

The assault Tuesday bore striking similarities to last year’s three-day hostage drama in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai.

Working in pairs, the attackers in Lahore carried walkie-talkies and backpacks stuffed with water, dried fruit and other high-energy food — a sign they anticipated a protracted siege and may have been planning to take the players hostage.

The bus sped through the ambush, but the gunmen’s preparations indicated they may been planning to hijack the vehicle, Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik told The Associated Press. None of the gunmen were killed and all apparently escaped into this teeming eastern city. Even though the bus was peppered with 25 bullet holes, none of the cricket players were killed. The attack was among the highest-profile terrorist strikes on a sports team since the 1972 Munich Olympics, when Palestinian militants killed 11 Israeli athletes.

The arsenal displayed for journalists included rocket-propelled grenades, pistols, 25 hand grenades, submachine guns and plastic explosives.

Despite the onslaught, the bus carrying the Sri Lankan players did not stop, speeding through the hail of bullets and into the stadium, likely saving many lives. As the players ducked, shouting “Go! Go!” driver Mohammad Khalil said he maneuvered the bus, pocked with bullet holes and its windshield shattered, into the stadium.

There were also no indications that authorities in Pakistan or Sri Lanka suspected Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger separatist rebels, who are being badly hit in a military offensive at home and have staged scores of terror attacks in the past. Read Full article >>

source: Associated Press