Shootout in Lahore

[irfan]

Any ideas which terrorist faction/group are responsible for this attack?

 

[Richard]

Here's a story on the unfortunate second driver who was killed instantly by the terrorists.

Driver pays for love of cricket

Wednesday, 04 Mar, 2009 | 03:20 PM PST | —Reuters LAHORE:

Driver Zafar Khan was with the New Zealand cricket team in 2002 when a suicide bomber struck outside their hotel in Karachi.

On Wednesday Khan, 40, was buried after being shot dead by gunmen who attacked the Sri Lankan team in Lahore.

A driver of 15 years and cricket crazy like many of his countrymen, Khan had expected to go home to his village outside Mansehra town in North West Frontier province to finalise the dates for his eldest daughter’s wedding once the Lahore match was over.

Instead his body was taken there, after prayers were given for him and the six Pakistani policemen who also died in the bloody assault by a dozen as yet unidentified gunmen.

Khan was killed instantly by a gunshot wound to his chest as his coach came under heavy fire from terrorists 500 metres from the Gaddafi stadium, where he was taking the umpires for the third day of a match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

‘He loved his cricket and he was liked by visiting foreign players and officials,’ Saleem Khan, his younger brother, told Reuters after burying his sibling at the ancestral village in North West Frontier Province.

‘He loved collecting souvenirs given to him by them.’

His uncle, Anwar Khan, recalled his nephew’s shock when a suicide bomb attack outside Karachi’s Sheraton Hotel in May 2002 killed 11 French engineers and two Pakistanis.

Khan had been preparing to take the New Zealand team from the hotel to the National Stadium, but the New Zealanders promptly abandoned the series and returned home the same day.

‘He was shattered then, but recovered quickly as he loved driving and cricket,’ Anwar said.

While Khan was being buried, one of his passengers lay in a Lahore hospital on the critical list.

Fourth umpire Ahsan Raza was also struck in the chest. He was kept alive by an artificial ventilator as his lungs were damaged and he had suffered internal bleeding.

Another Pakistani official on the bus was wounded, but others escaped without serious injury, although the vehicle was sprayed with bullets as it stood stationary in the middle of a gunfight for several minutes before being driven to safety.

‘Zafar was killed instantly as he was up front. A police commando took charge of the coach and drove us to the stadium,’ Umpire Nadeem Ghouri said.

Others on the bus included Australian umpires Simon Taufel and Steve Davis, and British match referee Chris Broad.

I guess for some it's just one of many (and it's true that countless thousands of innocents are killed daily in one conflict or another), but still, every story is sad in its own way and this one is no different.

Good to hear elsewhere that Ahsan Raza is apparently thought to be starting on the road to recovery.

 

[Top_Cat]

Any ideas which terrorist faction/group are responsible for this attack?

Cue 'it was India' conspriracy theories.

 

[Xuhaib]

Cue 'it was India' conspriracy theories.

atm all the parties that could have gained something or have been part of any past attacks are been seen as suspects and India is just one of them. 'it was India' is just one of the theories that is going around rather then being the only one..

 

[Xuhaib]

Its been almost 48 hours now and I cant just help but feel that PCB should be sued by the SL cricket board. The SL team only agreed to tour after they were promised presidential level security and going by the videos one can clearly see the security was far from even adequate. How can 12 men with so much arms and ammunition can get near the Gaddafi Stadium is just beyond comprehension.

To me the death of cricket in Pakistan took place when we saw a millatary chopper land right in the middle of Gaddafi the mecca of Pakistan cricket

 

[four_or_six]

Its been almost 48 hours now and I cant just help but feel that PCB should be sued by the SL cricket board. The SL team only agreed to tour after they were promised presidential level security and going by the videos one can clearly see the security was far from even adequate. How can 12 men with so much arms and ammunition can get near the Gaddafi Stadium is just beyond comprehension.

To me the death of cricket in Pakistan took place when we saw a millatary chopper land right in the middle of Gaddafi the mecca of Pakistan cricket

I don't know about people suing the PCB... but I would think there is a possiblilty of the ICC being sued by the injured umpire, given what the umpires have been saying. It doesn't seem as though nearly enough was done to protect the umpiring team, in particular.

 

[jeevan]

atm all the parties that could have gained something or have been part of any past attacks are been seen as suspects and India is just one of them. 'it was India' is just one of the theories that is going around rather then being the only one..

And India is in this group because of what exactly?

 

[Trumpers_Ghost]

And India is in this group because of what exactly?

Yeah don't see how India could possibly "gain" anything from this.

The only ones who could possibly gain anything are those with a pathological hatred of cricket or a love of violence and anarchy

 

[biased indian]

read in newspaper today that some one had called up and asked the motorcade to diverted to the road on which the attack happened. apparently the caller had told that the other route was not safe and some one could attack

how in the world they just changed the route on the instruction of an unidentified caller ?????

 

[Burgey]

I don't know about people suing the PCB... but I would think there is a possiblilty of the ICC being sued by the injured umpire, given what the umpires have been saying. It doesn't seem as though nearly enough was done to protect the umpiring team, in particular.

Covered by Workers' Comp anyway, fault or no fault by the ICC.

 

[Xuhaib]

And India is in this group because of what exactly?

You just underlined your answer.

 

[jeevan]

You just underlined your answer.

Please don't be cute, nobody else is cracking jokes here.

Please explain how i) India gained from this attack or ii) India was part of any past attack. And the Mumbai attack, and discussions following that, even here, have laid the precedent for the extent of proof required for such accusations to be credible.

It is not self-evident (In fact the worries over IPL means that Indian cricket too has lost something) and the India-Pakistan hyphenation ended a while ago.

 

[Xuhaib]

Please don't be cute, nobody else is cracking jokes here.

Please explain how i) India gained from this attack or ii) India was part of any past attack. And the Mumbai attack, and discussions following that, even here, have laid the precedent for the extent of proof required for such accusations to be credible.

It is not self-evident (In fact the worries over IPL means that Indian cricket too has lost something) and the India-Pakistan hyphenation ended a while ago.

Arghhh!

I think it would naive for any Indian to think that India has never meddled in Pakistan affairs and vice versa I must add.

On a personal level I don't think the attack was coordinated by India since an international cricket team is too high profile a target for any country and is not worth the risk. However given the past history between the two countries I have no problem with India being considered one of the suspect atleast in the initial investigations.

 

[jeevan]

Does not want another India- Pakistan duel so I guess I should stop right now.

And yet a couple of pages later, you gratuitously state that India might have gained something from this or has planned similar past attacks.

 

[Evermind]

Arghhh!

I think it would naive for any Indian to think that India has never meddled in Pakistan affairs and vice versa I must add.

On a personal level I don't think the attack was coordinated by India since an international cricket team is too high profile a target for any country and is not worth the risk. However given the past history between the two countries I have no problem with India being considered one of the suspect atleast in the initial investigations.

So now India is terrorising Pakistan? Never thought I'd live to hear that. The utter lack of introspection, denial, blame-shifting, and refusal to be accountable is staggering, from many of the Pakistanis I've met, but if even someone liberal like you takes such a stance, I shudder to think what the man on the street thinks.

Never mind Islamic fundamentalism - it's all India's fault. Real ****ing sensible.

 

[Xuhaib]

So now India is terrorising Pakistan? Never thought I'd live to hear that. The utter lack of introspection, denial, blame-shifting, and refusal to be accountable is staggering, from many of the Pakistanis I've met, but if even someone liberal like you takes such a stance, I shudder to think what the man on the street thinks.

Never mind Islamic fundamentalism - it's all India's fault. Real ****ing sensible.

?
Where did I blame India for this attack?

 

[Xuhaib]

And yet a couple of pages later, you gratuitously state that India might have gained something from this or has planned similar past attacks.

was replying to T_C tbh.

 

[jeevan]

Arghhh!

I think it would naive for any Indian to think that India has never meddled in Pakistan affairs and vice versa I must add.

On a personal level I don't think the attack was coordinated by India since an international cricket team is too high profile a target for any country and is not worth the risk. However given the past history between the two countries I have no problem with India being considered one of the suspect atleast in the initial investigations.

In 1971, may be. In the last few years, India has more or less moved on to bigger and better things than pissing contests with Pakistan. Every time India is mentioned in the same sentence as Pakistan, it is a step back for us. That's the stark reality of it.

 

[Evermind]

I wasnt going to respond to the original but as it is gaining momentum: God wasnt with the attackers as their plan failed?

Really? So using that logic, if it had been successful then it would have shown that God was on their side.

Wow, this is slippery territory that I dont really like.

They were not successful due to a recipe of mistakes, fortune, coincidence and actions by others. Bringing fate and faith into this scares me.

Welcome to the dark ages. Unfortunately, a large part of humanity is still stuck in the 1200s.

 

[Xuhaib]

In 1971, may be. In the last few years, India has more or less moved on to bigger and better things than pissing contests with Pakistan. Every time India is mentioned in the same sentence as Pakistan, it is a step back for us. That's the stark reality of it.

OK! what ever makes you happy my friend don't want 26/11 discussion all over again. Have lots of work to do might get in to a discussion with you some times later.