http://www.gulfnews.com/sport/Cricket/10291119.html
This is awful!!!!
Last updated: March 03, 2009, 13:12
Lahore: A dozen masked gunmen armed with rifles and rocket launchers attacked a vehicle carrying members of Sri Lanka's national cricket team in the east Pakistani city of Lahore on Tuesday, wounding several players and killing five police officers, officials said.
Lahore police chief Haji Habibur Rehman said 12 masked gunmen ambushed the convoy near the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, triggering a 15-minute gunbattle between them and police. None of the attackers were captured.
"It was a terrorist attack and the terrorists used rocket launchers, hand grenades and other weapons," Rehman said, adding that the police were hunting down the attackers who managed to flee. "Our police sacrificed their lives to protect the Sri Lankan team."
Authorities did not speculate on the identities of the attackers or their motives.
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Chamara Ranavira, a spokesman for the Sri Lankan High Commission, said two players, Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavitana, were being treated for injuries in hospital but were stable.
The Sri Lankan Cricket Board said Kumar Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis, Suranka Lakmal, captain Mahela Jayawardene and Chaminda Vaas had minor injuries.
Ranavira said assistant coach Paul Frabrace also sustained minor injuries."We are communicating with the Pakistan Cricket Board and the high commission has taken action to send the cricket team back home as soon as possible," Ranavira said.
Sri Lanka Sports Minister said he spoke to team officials on the phone and: "they are worried, very worried."
The uninjured players who were taking shelter in the stadium were flown out by a military helicopter.
The team is expected to fly out to Colombo directly later in the day. It was first thought that the team would transit through Abu Dhabi.
The International Cricket Council moved quickly to condemn the attack but refused to comment further.
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.
Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene recalled the ordeal.
"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," 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."
His father told a local television station he was slightly wounded in the foot.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has condemned the attack and called for the players to come home immediately.
In a statement on Tuesday, Rajapaksa called the attack cowardly. He ordered his foreign minister to immediately travel to Pakistan to help assist in the team's evacuation and ensure the players are safe and secure. Rajapaksa is currently on a visit to Nepal.
Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara says authorities do not believe the attack was carried out by the Tamil Tiger rebels.
Sri Lanka, which had been invited to Pakistan after India pulled out, immediately cancelled the rest of the tour.
Pakistan only invited the Sri Lanka team to tour after India's team pulled out with security concerns following the militant attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai in November.
Details of the injured:
Following is a list of the injured players with brief details of their injuries according to vice captain Kumar Sangakkara, who spoke to reporters by telephone from Lahore.
Mahela Jayawardena - cut to ankle, minor
Kumar Sangakkara - shrapnel cut to shoulder, minor
Ajantha Mendis - shrapnel wound to back, minor
Tharanga Paranavithana - shrapnel wound to his chest, minor, but taken to hospital.
Thilan Samaraweera - worst injured with what appeared to be a shrapnel wound to his leg. Taken to hospital, but not seriously wounded.
Paul Farbrace (assistant coach) - shrapnel wound to his arm, minor.