Pakistan sees local link to cricket team attack (Update)

[Coventina]

Source: Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Britain's foreign secretary urged Pakistan's feuding president and opposition leader to unite to focus on the "mortal threat" the country faces from Islamist militants, days after the danger was underscored by a bloody ambush on a visiting cricket team.

David Miliband's remarks were the most direct appeal yet by a Western power for Pakistani President Ali Asif Zardari and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif to resolve their differences — and a sign London is taking their rift and its implications seriously.

On Tuesday, militants armed with rocket launchers, hand grenades and assault rifles attacked Sri Lanka's cricket team and security detail, killing six police and a driver and wounding seven players and a coach.

Pakistani police suspect local militants were likely responsible for assault in the eastern city of Lahore, an investigator said Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jxdH7dw86hwJVEolcl71R-OzOdSgD96OJ4981

[ohio2007]

1. Cricket massacre lays bare the flaws of a failing state

Saw an article where Musharraf stated;" The security team should have dropped the attackers in a matter of seconds when the situation became obvious what was going on"

imo,
between the lines, it seems the "iron fist" has switched sides

The Pakistan terrorist attack and its aftermath have underlined the violence and corruption at the heart of a nuclear nation

THE grainy CCTV footage showing the escape of the Lahore killers has none of the drama of an action movie getaway, yet all the atmosphere of a Hitchcock film. Less than four minutes after blasting a tour by the Sri Lanka cricket team into carnage, the perpetrators are seen strolling calmly through the narrow back streets of Liberty market.
is their nonchalance that is most chilling. One sequence shows a man arriving on a motorbike in a deserted street. Two others with guns slung over their shoulders mount the bike, which drives off. They look like men confident of not being caught.

..........

As (the bus) made its way round the Liberty roundabout, half a mile from the Gaddafi stadium, two cars appeared and a rocket-propelled grenade was fired. “It missed and flew into a wall,” said Khalil Ahmed, the bus driver. “Almost immediately afterwards a person ran in front of the bus and threw a hand grenade in our direction. But it rolled underneath the coach and did not seem to cause that much damage.”

Masked gunmen descended on the roundabout from three directions and opened fire. “The gunmen targeted the wheels first, then the bus,”

The quick thinking of the driver, who made off at top speed, probably saved the players’ lives. Even so, six policemen and a driver were killed while six players and two assistant coaches were wounded.

.....

Why would anyone target players from a country with which Pakistan is on friendly terms? And how did the gunmen get away so easily?

A police station stands within half a mile of the Liberty roundabout yet no policemen emerged to help colleagues.

snip

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5864842.ece

wtf, security threw the bus driver under the bus

The police were aware of 'a plan' for six weeks...... guess it was a case of either

LIHOP or MIHOP


Intelligence sources said that southern Punjab had become the main centre of radical Islamic activities in the country. Despite a ban, groups such as JeM and LeJ had expanded their influence in the area, drawing recruits from among rural poor, they said.

Most of the gunmen involved in the attack on Mumbai in November came from the same region.



http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5854505.ece