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.
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