Just catching on CNN. Sounds like some were injured, several police were killed.
They have said that five players were injured, but mostly minor injuries. No idea yet which crazies did this or why.
Source: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25133386-2,00.html
More details at the link.
According to the BBC it was Pakistan-based Islamic militants.
Looks like the followers of the “religion of peace” are at it again.
Let’s hope that the perpetrators are brought to justice and that the injured make a full recovery.
Um, you do know that Pakistan is an almost exclusively Muslim country, right? And that this type of terrorist group is feared and hated by most of the population. This has (much) more to do with internal power struggles in Pakistan than religion, even though Islam might be used as an excuse.
A horrible act, but fortunately I don’t think the terrorists have done themselves any favours: In the Subcontinent, you do not gain popularity by targeting the most beloved sport of all. Fear, yes; support, definitely not.
Pakistan has hosted very little international cricket in the last 12 months. I suspect that will continue.
Bah, and othe countrys complain about the European football hooligans
I wonder whether the plans for this attack were actually made when India was supposed to be the visiting team. That would have been more of a disaster, I think, not only for cricket but for the stability in the region. The fact that is was Sri Lanka makes the attack look much more directed inwards than across the border to India.
Right now they are probably very thankful for being in NZ and not Lahore.
There has to be some reason to be thankful to be in NZ. (Waves to Kiwi members).
Is there any hope whatsoever of dropping this incredibly bigoted comment? Not all Muslims are violent terrorists just as not all Christians go around blowing up women’s clinics in the US.
This is horrible. 'snot like the SL players don’t have enough shit going on back home, either, now they get it in the neck abroad.
Still, this made me chuckle:
I just had an interesting conversation on this. There is an Indian restaurant near where I am staying. I thought that the owner was Sri Lankan - some of the people who work there are from Sri Lanka - and I started a conversation about this. I’ve eaten there at least four times on this trip, so we know each other a bit. Turns out he’s Pakistani so either way this would be an interesting conversation.
He’s of the opinion that there is some incentive in the government for some terrorism to occur, as they then get big bucks from the USA and a percentage of this gets back into the pockets of those running the government. We both agreed this is especially rough, as the common Pakistani will suffer, losing one of the few joys in their lives, and of course tragic for the families of the fallen police. His opinion was that most Pakistanis, maybe 70%, are illiterate and have little hope of better lives for themselves or their children, so are easily controlled or influenced by whoever comes in and offers something.
More likely, though, if you replace “government” in the above paragraph with “the military”.
They get money from the USA to “fight terrorism” and also the attacks undermine the government. Odd how the terrorists knew exactly which bus the Sri Lankan team were on, which route they were taking, what time they would arrive etc
It also seems a bit strange to me that all 14 attackers (or however many) got away, after attacking a guarded convoy.
Of course. Doesn’t mean I don’t stand by my comment.
Possible collusion with some members of the security forces? It’s not like that would be unheard of in Pakistan.
Let’s face it there are still allegedly terrorist training camps in some remote regions that they either can’t or won’t close down.
The government of Pakistan is weak and therefore is in a difficult situation when it comes to dealing with any “extremist” group.