Sri Lankan Cricket Attack: Taliban? Al Qaida?

Sri lankan Attack

8 Mar 2009


Sunday Independent (Ireland)
ISAMBARD WILKINSON


Fears Taliban could be behind cricket attack



A NEW strain of Talibantrained militants determined to destabilise vast swathes of Pakistan may have carried out last week's terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, western diplomats believe.


As the manhunt continued for the gunmen behind last Tuesday's assault in the Punjab city of Lahore, fears grew that the attack may have been the work of extremists planning to extend their reach from remote tribal areas into Pakistan's cities.


Last week, a report by detectives in the city of Karachi disclosed that senior Taliban figures were stockpiling huge caches of arms in houses in the slums.


Last Tuesday's commandostyle strike in Lahore left eight people dead and eight members of the Sri Lankan cricket squad injured, raising serious doubts over whether Pakistan will host international sporting fixtures again. It also highlighted the political instability facing the nuclear-armed country and laid bare the incompetence and squabbling in Pakistan's government.


The Pakistani interior ministry pointed the finger at its old enemy, India, an allegation widely dismissed elsewhere.


Instead, detectives admitted that the trail might lie closer to home in the form of al-Qa’ida and Taliban-linked militants — drawn from parts of Punjab province and the North West Frontier Province.


British and US diplomats believe the militants' task was made easier by the actions of President Asif Ali Zardari, whose feud with political rival Nawaz Sharif led to the sacking of Mr Sharif 's brother Shahbaz as chief minister of Punjab last month.


His removal came just as he was credited with making progress in tackling a rise in militancy in Punjab. It also left the security forces that should have prevented the attack lacking leadership.

Pakistan - An Attack on Sri Lankans

Yet another attack in Pakistan ... and their conspiracies still blame everyone but those the world knows responsible.

It is interesting - the portion highlighted in orange. And it is very much like what the Palestinians do - they aim RPGs and fire the wrong way, or throw grenades that don't have the pins pulled, or shoot wildly in the air. It is a wonder they can reproduce without any help. They are rock-hard stupid. They are in line, and should willingly throw themselves under a very heavy rolling pin.




The bus driver who saved the Sri Lankans
By Mohammad Yaqoob
Tuesday, 03 Mar, 2009 10:00 PM PST
DAWN.com

LAHORE: There was no match but plenty of applause around Qadhafi Stadium on the day. Six brave policemen laid down their lives so that the visiting Sri Lankan cricketers could return home safe. And no less heroic was the feat of Mahar Mohammad Khalil, the bus driver who sped the visitors to safety after the vehicle they were travelling in was ambushed at around 8:50am on Tuesday.

Khalil was later showered with praise and cash awards as he met the members of the Sri Lankan team but perhaps nothing could match the satisfaction he must have felt when he brought the visitors to safety in the morning.

‘It happened all of a sudden,’ the gritty driver recalled in a talk with Dawn. ‘Thank God the rocket fired at the bus missed the target. The next moment, a man came out from a white car and threw two hand grenades towards us. The grenades rolled under the bus but did not explode. Then a second man came out of the same car and opened fire at us.’

Khalil said just then he heard Dr Muqaddar, the liaison officer to Sri Lanka team, shouting loudly. ‘He asked me to step on the gas and flee. The voice recharged me,’ he said. ‘It was as if I had received a 400-watt jolt. We made a dash towards the Gaddafi Stadium and thankfully reached it quickly. It was only when we were there that I found out that some players had been injured.’

Khalil was fortunate that half of the windscreen of his bus on the driver’s side was bullet-proof. Two bullets hit the screen but they failed to pierce the glass. Another bullet went through the other half of the windscreen. Had he been hit, not only his own security but that of the whole Sri Lankan team would have been compromised.

Mahar Khalil dismissed the impression that the attack took place due to a security lapse. ‘The security was strict and the policemen exchanged fire with the terrorists. That so many of the policemen were killed is a proof of their commitment,’ he reasoned.

PCB chairman Ijaz Butt told Dawn that the Sri Lankan players wanted to thank Khalil in person for keeping his composure in the face of adversity and saving their lives.

Khalil later went to the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Mess where the Sri Lankans had been taken to before flying out of Lahore. Sources said that upon meeting him the Sri Lankan players hailed the brave driver as their saviour and lavished him with cash prizes as a token of their gratitude.











Pakistan

Tamils on the Net

Sri Lankan troops seize Tigers camps: military

January 23, 2009

COLOMBO (AFP) — Sri Lankan security forces captured two Tamil Tiger guerrilla camps after heavy fighting in the island's northeast, the military said Saturday.

Government forces have been steadily advancing into the remaining territory held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the coastal district of Mullaittivu.

"Sri Lanka army Task Force Four operating in the Puthukkudiriruppu south yesterday captured two LTTE camps located in the area," a military statement said.

The military did not say if troops had suffered any casualties in the latest fighting.
Sri Lanka's army has said it hopes to crush remaining rebel resistance by April.

The Tigers have not commented on the fighting, but the pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website had accused the military of shelling civilians trapped inside rebel-held areas.





Tamils