Sri Lankan players attacked in firing at Lahore, key players injured

Six members of the Sri Lankan cricket team -- Thilan Samaraweera, Ajantha Mendis, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumara Sangakkara, Chaminda Vaas and Thilan Tharanga -- were injured in an attack by unidentified gunmen here today

Sri Lankan players attacked in firing at Lahore, key players injured

Six members of the Sri Lankan cricket team --u00a0Thilan Samaraweera, Ajantha Mendis, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumara Sangakkara, Chaminda Vaasu00a0and Thilan Tharanga --u00a0were injured in an attack by unidentified gunmen here today. The attack took place at Liberty Chowk in the heart of the Lahore city.

Ace spinner Muttiah Muralitharan is reported to be safe.

'We are shocked'
Sanath Jayasuriya told the Indian media that the incident in pakistan was very unfortunate. "Our cricketers have injuries, but they are OK. But the players are shocked. They have never gone through anything like this before," said the former Sri Lankan player, who is in Colombo.

He added that even in conflict-torn Sri Lanka, cricketers never became the target.

Grenades lobbed
Apart from firing at the team, grenades were lobbed at the Lankan team bus. "The Sri lankan team was heading towards the stadium when two loud blasts were heard followed by firing on the convoy. The injured players were rushed to the hospital," said, the head of security at Gaddafi Stadium.

The police and security forces have cordoned off the area. The police chief said they recovered heavy weaponry, including rocket launchers and grenades. Calling the attackers "well-trained terrorists", Habib-ur Rehman said the police battled against the assailants for about 25 minutes.

Punjab Governor Salmaan Tahseer said, "They are the same people who attacked Mumbai. It's a Mumbai-like operation. These were trained killers and are not ordinary criminals."

Au00a0massive operation is underway to capture the terrorists, while the team has been moved into a high security zone.

Pakistani invited Sri Lanka to tour after India's cricket team pulled out of a scheduled cricket tour following the deadly November attacks in Mumbai.

Theu00a0tour has now been officially called off. Sri Lanka has recalled the teamu00a0immediately. The injured players will also be flown back as soon as possible.

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