Footage raises new questions about Pakistan attack
Handout photo shows yesterday sketches of four men suspected of participating in the deadly ambush of the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore. Photo: AFP
Pakistan faced new questions about its security forces yesterday as dramatic footage emerged of the cricket attackers making a leisurely getaway from the scene of their deadly assault.
The images of the gunmen calmly walking off, without police or security forces chasing them, will add to the speculation swirling around the brazen daytime attack on Sri Lanka's cricket team Tuesday that left eight people dead.
Pakistan is steeped in political violence, and suspicion has fallen on Islamic militants linked to al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Police have brought in around two dozen people for questioning but say none are linked to the attack.
Up to 12 men attacked the convoy of umpires, coaches and players with automatic weapons, grenades and a rocket launcher as it made its way to the cricket ground in the city of Lahore. The attackers fled without a trace.
The new footage, captured by closed-circuit cameras, showed two suspects wearing rucksacks and ambling down the road, apparently untroubled after the carnage took place. They then jump on motorbikes and speed off.
"We are doing our best to unravel the conspiracy," Lahore police chief Habib-ur Rehman told AFP.
"Raids are being mounted, leads are being followed," he said. "We believe we are on the right track in the investigation."
Police released sketches of four suspects but have not made any breakthroughs in the case. No one has claimed responsibility for the assault, which killed six police and two civilians, and wounded 19 people.
More than 1,600 people have been killed in attacks in Pakistan over the past 22 months, and al-Qaeda and Taliban militants have forged a de facto safe haven in the country's rugged and lawless northwest along the border with Afghanistan.
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