8 Sri Lankan cricket players wounded in bus attack in Pakistan

Seven members of the Sri Lankan cricket squad were wounded when around
a dozen gunmen attacked their bus as it drove under police escort on
Tuesday to a stadium in the Pakistani city of Lahore, witnesses and
officials said.

Lahore Police chief Habib-ur-Rehman said five people were killed in
the attack by the unidentified gunmen, who fired AK 47s and rockets
and hurled grenades as the team bus drove to the 60,000-seater Gaddafi
stadium in the eastern city.

Sri Lanka's sports minister said five players and an assistant coach
were wounded, two of whom were being treated in hospital.

"Police are chasing the terrorists," police chief Habib-ur-Rehman
said. "They appeared to be trained men."

The attack had echoes with one on the Indian city of Mumbai in
November which led to the Indian cricket team cancelling its planned
tour of Pakistan.

India blamed that attack on Pakistan-trained militants and the
incident sharply raised tension between the two nuclear-armed
neighbours.

Sri Lanka, which had been invited to Pakistan after India pulled out,
immediately cancelled the rest of the tour.

"We are trying to bring the team back as quickly as possible," a Sri
Lankan cricket official said.

Pakistan TV showed footage of gunmen with rifles and backpacks running
through the streets and firing on unidentified vehicles.

The driver of the Sri Lankan team coach said one of the attackers had
thrown a grenade under the bus, but it did not detonate.

A witness told Reuters he believed two police commandos were killed
along with a regular policeman and a traffic warden.

Shopkeeper Ahmed Ali said the two police commandos had been driving
behind the team bus when they were hit.

"It was a very heavy firing and I heard at least two explosions at the
time," said a Reuters witness who had been on his way to cover the
test match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Cricketer Thilan Samaraweera seemed to be the worst hit, suffering a
thigh injury, a player on the team bus who did not wish to be
identified told Reuters by phone.

It was unclear whether injuries were caused by bullets, shrapnel or
flying shards of glass.