The BBC's Barbara Plett says the incident will come as a big blow to Pakistani cricket - already suffering from serious security concerns - and may put an end to international cricket in the country in the short term.
Commentators have questioned the wisdom of cricket authorities in giving the tour the go-ahead in the first place.
Pakistan invited Sri Lanka to tour only after India's cricket team pulled out of a scheduled cricket tour on security grounds, following the Mumbai attacks.
Reports suggest 10 to 12 gunmen ambushed the team coach and its accompanying police detail on a roundabout in Liberty Square in the heart of Lahore, as the convoy was on the way to the Gaddafi stadium for a Test match.
Our Islamabad correspondent says accounts suggest the attack was sophisticated in nature, with one group of gunmen firing a rocket-propelled grenade in order to create a diversion, while others then approached, firing guns on the convoy.
She says the gunmen - two of whom were shown in TV pictures carrying backpacks - seemed to be well-trained.
Officials in Lahore said two members of the Sri Lankan team - Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavitana - were sent to hospital. Another five received minor wounds, as well as assistant coach Paul Farbrace.
"The players are shocked. They have never gone through anything like this before," former Sri Lankan player Sanath Jayasuriya told an Indian news channel on the phone from Colombo.
There are no reports that any of the attackers were killed or apprehended. Grenades and rocket launchers were found at the site of the incident, police said.
A Pakistani air force helicopter has now airlifted uninjured members of the Sri Lankan team out of the Gaddafi Stadium.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse condemned the "cowardly terrorist attack" and ordered the players' evacuation back to Sri Lanka. A plane is being chartered for this purpose.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari also strongly condemned the attack, and ordered an immediate investigation "so that the perpetrators are identified and their motives exposed", said a statement from his office.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for India's foreign ministry offered sympathy and urged Pakistan to take "prompt, meaningful and decisive steps to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure once and for all".
The third day of play in the Second Test was scheduled to begin, but officials said the match has now been cancelled.
Pakistan is engaged in a bloody struggle against Islamist insurgents who have staged high-profile attacks on civilian targets before.
India and Australia have pulled out of cricket tours in Pakistan in the recent past citing security concerns.
The sport's world governing body, the International Cricket Council, last month decided not to hold the 2009 Champions Trophy in Pakistan due to safety worries.
Our correspondent says initial suspects will include Kashmiri militant groups, al-Qaeda or Taleban militants.
Further down the list are militants connected to the Tamil Tiger separatist rebels against whom Sri Lankan authorities are waging their own domestic military campaign.
Fuck me. Tragic confirmation that Pakistan is simply not safe for touring teams.
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Eight members of the Sri Lankan cricket team have been injured by Pakistani gunmen as their coach was driven under police escort.
Five policemen and the driver of the second bus were killed while the players, including British assistant coach Paul Farbrace, were shot at as they headed to a stadium in Lahore for a Test match.
Police chief, Habib-ur-Rehman, said 'trained men' had fired AK 47s and rockets and hurled grenades at the vehicles. Meanwhile, Pakistani minister Sardar Nabil Ahmed Gabol accused India of being behind the incident which he claimed was 'a conspiracy to defame Pakistan internationally'.
Reserve umpire Ehsan Raza was shot and is critically injured while Sri Lankan player Thilan Samaraweera was hit in the thigh and was admitted to hospital as was Tharanga Paranavitana while Kumar Sangakkara has a shrapnel wound in his right shoulder.
Mahela Jayawardene, Ajantha Mendis, Suranka Lakmal and Chaminda Vaas were also hurt as was former Kent batsman Farbrace.
In the second bus were match referee and former England opener Chris Broad - the father of England bowler Stuart - who was travelling with umpires Simon Taufel and Steve Davies and TV umpire Nadeem Chauri. They were unhurt in the attack.
It was the second day of Sri Lanka's second Test match at the Gaddafi stadium and former England bowler Dominic Cork, who is working as a commentator for Pakistan TV, said Broad was left spattered with blood after the attack.
'He (Broad) said it was the most frightening experience of his life. Their driver was shot and they had to ask a policeman to drive them to the stadium,' Cork, who played 37 Tests for England, said.
He added that he had spoken to wounded Sri Lankan players and officials at the stadium, saying: 'The Sri Lankan players are quite shocked. They all fell to the floor of the team bus when the attack happened. Some of them have wounds, but I think most of them are superficial wounds.
'The team are sitting in the changing room watching local TV. They are waiting for helicopters to arrive to take them to a local army base and wait for a connecting flight to Abu Dhabi.'
He added: 'I won't be coming back here while I'm still living, there is no chance. I don't think international cricket should return to this country.'
Pakistan TV showed footage of gunmen with rifles and backpacks running through the streets and firing on unidentified vehicles. They were chased into a nearby commercial and shopping area and police are searching buildings but have lost track of the men's whereabouts.
'We don't know where they are,' the police chief said.
The match was being played at the venue where Sri Lanka won the World Cup in 1996, beating Australia in the final. Sri Lanka, who had been invited to Pakistan after India pulled out of the matches following the Mumbai attacks last November, has cancelled the rest of the tour.
'We are trying to bring the team back as quickly as possible,' a Sri Lankan cricket official said.
Governor Taseer said: 'One thing I want to say it's the same pattern, the same terrorists who attacked Mumbai.' India blamed that attack on Pakistan-trained militants and the incident sharply raised tension between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
The group blamed by India, Lashkar-e-Taiba, came from Pakistan's Punjab province, whose capital is Lahore.
It was the first major attack on an international sporting team since Palestinian militants attacked Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich.
In 2002, a bomb exploded in Karachi while the New Zealand cricket team were touring, killing 13 people including 11 French navy experts.
The tourists, based at the Pearl Continental Hotel, were preparing to depart for the National Stadium for the start of a match when a car exploded outside the nearby Karachi Sheraton. New Zealand called off the tour within hours of the attack.
Trying to repeat the "glory" of the Mumbai attack, eh? Oh well, that's another case of sport not successfully substituting political violence.
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In a sense, it might be a good thing that this happened. If the people over there love anything, it's their cricket. The backlash of anger against the militants (even if it's later shown they weren't even responsible) will be significant, and the Pakistani government may finally have a popular mandate to root these groups out of their supposedly sovereign territory.
Latest reports are that 6 police died from their wounds, as well as the driver from the referee's vehicle. The Sri Lankan players have also been laying praise upon the driver of their bus, whom they credit with saving their lives. Sri Lankan wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara told Australia's ABC radio, "We had an amazing driver who just kept driving the bus straight through all of that to the ground and that's probably what saved us."
I think I've posted this in another thread. Can somebody please merge them or lock mine?
As for the incident in question, it was pretty bad with so many police officers killed in one go, but it could've very easily been a much worse bloodbath considering what happened not so long ago in Mumbai.
'Alright guard, begin the unnecessarily slow moving dipping mechanism...' - Dr. Evil
'Secondly, I don't see why "income inequality" is a bad thing. Poverty is not an injustice. There is no such thing as causes for poverty, only causes for wealth. Poverty is not a wrong, but taking money from those who have it to equalize incomes is basically theft, which is wrong.' - Typical Randroid
'I think it's gone a little bit wrong.' - The Doctor
Molyneux wrote:Who the fuck attacks a sports team? I have simply never understood this.
Well, sports teams, especially ones that pay in an international league, are generally viewed as icons of a sort. Attacking one is guaranteed to rile people up.
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Molyneux wrote:Who the fuck attacks a sports team? I have simply never understood this.
Well, sports teams, especially ones that pay in an international league, are generally viewed as icons of a sort. Attacking one is guaranteed to rile people up.
They mention this in the article, but considering this was the Sri Lankan team, I wouldn't be surprised if the Tamil Tigers or a group that's affiliated with them, acting on their behalf or acting in "sympathy" for them.
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Archaic` wrote:In a sense, it might be a good thing that this happened. If the people over there love anything, it's their cricket. The backlash of anger against the militants (even if it's later shown they weren't even responsible) will be significant, and the Pakistani government may finally have a popular mandate to root these groups out of their supposedly sovereign territory.
More complicated than that. The Pakistani government is more worried about a coup from the military than some backlash.
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Molyneux wrote:Who the fuck attacks a sports team? I have simply never understood this.
*Cough* Munich Games *Cough*
Athletic teams are a prime target for such terror attacks, as they are symbols of the prowess and legitimacy of a nation/group of people. Cricket also has a strong association with the British Empire.
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Molyneux wrote:Who the fuck attacks a sports team? I have simply never understood this.
It's strategic. When a conventional air force blows up an enemy bridge, the strategic objective is not to blow up the bridge; that is merely a means to an end. The strategic objective is to limit the enemy's freedom of movement and degrade his logistics.
Similarly, when insurgents kill public figures such as athletes, the strategic objective is not to kill public figures; they are a means to an end. The strategic objective is to attack the government's legitimacy. A government which cannot even provide security within its own borders loses legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry.
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Molyneux wrote:Who the fuck attacks a sports team? I have simply never understood this.
*Cough* Munich Games *Cough*
Athletic teams are a prime target for such terror attacks, as they are symbols of the prowess and legitimacy of a nation/group of people. Cricket also has a strong association with the British Empire.
I never understood that, either. I suppose DW's explanation makes sense in a crazy sort of way.
Molyneux wrote:Who the fuck attacks a sports team? I have simply never understood this.
Well, sports teams, especially ones that pay in an international league, are generally viewed as icons of a sort. Attacking one is guaranteed to rile people up.
They mention this in the article, but considering this was the Sri Lankan team, I wouldn't be surprised if the Tamil Tigers or a group that's affiliated with them, acting on their behalf or acting in "sympathy" for them.
Very unlikely. Cricket is a sacred cow in the subcontinent. Attacking a disliked countries cricket team openly would cause rioting in your own streets against it.
I have to tell you something everything I wrote above is a lie.
The Spartan wrote:They mention this in the article, but considering this was the Sri Lankan team, I wouldn't be surprised if the Tamil Tigers or a group that's affiliated with them, acting on their behalf or acting in "sympathy" for them.
Very unlikely. Cricket is a sacred cow in the subcontinent. Attacking a disliked countries cricket team openly would cause rioting in your own streets against it.
Hmm... Taliban affiliated group or similar then?
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