The Sri Lanka team were evacuated by helicopter after the attack [AFP]
Six Pakistanis have been killed and up to six Sri Lankan cricket players wounded by armed men in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore.The attackers, reportedly armed with Kalashnikovs and hand grenades, targeted the Sri Lankan team's bus on Tuesday near the city's Gaddafi cricket stadium, where Pakistan has been playing Sri Lanka in a test match.
Sajjad Bhutta, a city administration official, said a total of six people had been killed.
They included five police and the driver of a second coach travelling
behind the team bus, according to officials and witnesses.Officials said six Sri Lankan players were wounded along with Paul Farbrace, the team's assistant coach, and Brenden Kurrupu, the manager.
TV footage showed armed men with backpacks firing at the convoy as they retreated from the scene, several damaged vehicles and a lone, unexploded grenade lying on the ground.
Pakistani air force helicopters later evacuated the Sri Lankan cricket team - including two players on stretchers from the Gaddafi Stadium.
Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavithana, two of the injured
players, were carried on stretchers to a second helicopter, which also evacuated Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lankan team's captain, and Kurrupu from the Gaddafi Stadium."I want to say it's the same pattern, the same terrorists who attacked Mumbai," The Punjabi governor, Taseer said.
The Sri Lankan government condemned the assault as "cowardly" and said it was immediately dispatching the country's foreign minster to Pakistan.
Source: Al Jazeera
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