# Sri Lankan cricket players attacked in Lahore **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 3, 2009, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sri-lankan-cricket-players-attacked-in-lahore/488114 "2009-03-03T05:49:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sri-lankan-cricket-players-attacked-in-lahore/488114/1 "2009-03-03T05:49:26Z")
Just catching on CNN. Sounds like some were injured, several police were killed. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sri-lankan-cricket-players-attacked-in-lahore/488114/2 "2009-03-03T05:58:32Z")
They have said that five players were injured, but mostly minor injuries. No idea yet which crazies did this or why. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sri-lankan-cricket-players-attacked-in-lahore/488114/3 "2009-03-03T05:58:57Z")
> [@](#): > > FIVE Pakistani policemen were killed today when masked gunmen fired on the Sri Lanka cricket team’s bus in Lahore in an attack that wounded several of the players. > > Six members of the Sri Lankan cricket squad were injured when around a dozen gunmen attacked their bus as it drove under police escort to a Lahore stadium, witnesses and officials said. Source: [http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25133386-2,00.html](http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25133386-2,00.html) More details at the link. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sri-lankan-cricket-players-attacked-in-lahore/488114/4 "2009-03-03T06:05:07Z")
> [@](#): > > UPDATE: AUSTRALIAN Trevor Bayliss, head coach of Sri Lanka’s cricket side, has been injured in a deadly terrorist attack on the team in Pakistan. > > Mr Bayliss, head coach of the Sri Lankan side, is reported to have suffered minior injuris in the attack in Lahore that killed five police officers and wounded up to six players. > > Lahore police chief Habib-ur Rehman said 12 gunmen attacked the convoy near Lahore’s Gaddafi stadium with rockets, hand grenades and automatic weapons and were involved in a 25-minute shoot-out with the security forces. > > ``They appeared to be well-trained terrorists. They came on rickshaws,‘’ he told reporters. Source: [http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25133393-5006301,00.html](http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25133393-5006301,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sri-lankan-cricket-players-attacked-in-lahore/488114/5 "2009-03-03T08:56:20Z")
According to the BBC it was [Pakistan-based Islamic militants](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7920260.stm). 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. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sri-lankan-cricket-players-attacked-in-lahore/488114/6 "2009-03-03T10:13:56Z")
> [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](#): > > According to the BBC it was [Pakistan-based Islamic militants](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7920260.stm). > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sri-lankan-cricket-players-attacked-in-lahore/488114/7 "2009-03-03T10:26:38Z")
Pakistan has hosted very little international cricket in the last 12 months. I suspect that will continue. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sri-lankan-cricket-players-attacked-in-lahore/488114/8 "2009-03-03T10:29:10Z")
Bah, and othe countrys complain about the European football hooligans ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sri-lankan-cricket-players-attacked-in-lahore/488114/9 "2009-03-03T10:31:00Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sri-lankan-cricket-players-attacked-in-lahore/488114/10 "2009-03-03T10:54:40Z")
There has to be some reason to be thankful to be in NZ. (Waves to Kiwi members). ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sri-lankan-cricket-players-attacked-in-lahore/488114/11 "2009-03-03T12:45:56Z")
> [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](#): > > Looks like the followers of the “religion of peace” are at it again. 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. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sri-lankan-cricket-players-attacked-in-lahore/488114/12 "2009-03-03T16:15:09Z")
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: > [@](#): > > They appeared to be well-trained terrorists. They came on rickshaws ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sri-lankan-cricket-players-attacked-in-lahore/488114/13 "2009-03-03T20:21:04Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sri-lankan-cricket-players-attacked-in-lahore/488114/14 "2009-03-03T23:49:22Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sri-lankan-cricket-players-attacked-in-lahore/488114/15 "2009-03-03T23:54:55Z")
It also seems a bit strange to me that all 14 attackers (or however many) got away, after attacking a guarded convoy. ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sri-lankan-cricket-players-attacked-in-lahore/488114/16 "2009-03-04T09:11:37Z")
> [@Panurge](#): > > Um, you do know that Pakistan is an almost exclusively Muslim country, right? Of course. Doesn’t mean I don’t stand by my comment. ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sri-lankan-cricket-players-attacked-in-lahore/488114/17 "2009-03-04T09:14:10Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > It also seems a bit strange to me that all 14 attackers (or however many) got away, after attacking a guarded convoy. 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.