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Lahore: A dozen masked gunmen armed with rifles and rocket launchers attacked a vehicle carrying members of Sri Lanka's national cricket team in the east Pakistani city of Lahore on Tuesday, wounding at least six players and killing five police officers, officials said.
Lahore police chief Haji Habibur Rehman said the five policemen died in the shooting and that two players were wounded. A Pakistan Cricket Board security official had earlier said eight players were wounded.
Rehman said 12 masked gunmen were involved in the attack. Footage from the scene on Tuesday showed the team's white van with its front window shattered as security officials tried to gain control of the scene.
"It was a terrorist attack and the terrorists used rocket launchers, hand grenades and other weapons," Rehman said, adding that the police were hunting down the attackers who managed to flee. "Our police sacrificed their lives to protect the Sri Lankan team."
He said one wounded player was hit in the leg while the other received a bullet in the chest.
Sri Lanka team manager Brendon Kruppu said leading batsman Kumar Sangakkara was among those injured near Gaddafi Stadium ahead of day three of the second test against Pakistan.
A Sri Lankan foreign ministry official confirmed that two players, Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavitana, were hospitalised. He said three more players were slightly injured and that the head coach, Australian Trevor Bayliss, also sustained minor injuries. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Sri Lankan media, quoting the sports minister, said Kumar Sangakkara and Ajantha Mendis were also wounded.
Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardena was slightly wounded in the foot, his father told a local television station after speaking with him by telephone.
A witness told reporters he believed two police commandos were killed along with a regular policeman and a traffic warden. Shopkeeper Ahmed Ali said the two police commandos had been driving behind the team bus when they were hit.
Sri Lanka, which had been invited to Pakistan after India pulled out, immediately cancelled the rest of the tour.
"We are trying to bring the team back as quickly as possible," a Sri Lankan cricket official said.
Pakistan only invited the Sri Lanka team to tour after India's team pulled out with security concerns following the militant attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai in November.
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