Pakistan: Lahore Cricket Attack Copycat Of Mumbai

Around dozen heavily armed assailants attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team's bus and a police escort as they drove to a stadium.

India bemoaned the efforts of rival Pakistan to quash militancy after gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore on Tuesday, warning of similar assaults in the region unless Islamabad completely cracked down.

The nuclear-armed neighbours have exchanged angry rhetoric since the November attacks in the Indian financial capital, Mumbai, which killed nearly 170 people. India and the United States blamed a Pakistani militant group for those raids.

"They've got to address the problem, take courage in both hands, dismantle the infrastructure facilities available there," Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters.

He said "a repetition of these types of incidents may take place" if Islamabad did not deal with militants.

Six Sri Lankan players and a British coach were wounded in the brazen attack by a dozen gunmen on the team's bus in Lahore. Five Pakistani police and the driver of a second bus were killed.

Pakistan's minister of state for shipping, Sardar Nabil Ahmed Gabol, accused India of being behind the assault, saying the gunmen had crossed into Pakistan from India. No other Pakistani officials have made such accusations.

India has not yet responded to the charge but has repeatedly accused Pakistan of not doing enough to dismantle "terrorist infrastructure" on its soil.

Analysts said that with a general election looming in India, anti-Pakistan rhetoric could help the government blunt opposition criticism over the Mumbai attacks and charges that it failed to put sufficient pressure on Pakistan to act against the perpetrators.

"Every political party will try and get mileage out of this attack as terrorism is a big election issue and parties will not be able to ignore this," said Uday Bhaskar, an independent analyst. "In fact, they will make the most of it."

Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram described the attack as a "shocking incident" that exposed the "hopelessly inadequate" security provided to the Sri Lankan players.

Analysts said India's reaction could be seen as hasty and fuel further tension with its neighbour.

"The pressure is (already) there on Pakistan, the pressure has increased more now and not by any nation's desire, the incident is so major that it provokes that criticism," said political columnist Pran Chopra.

Bhaskar said India's aim was to draw international attention.

"We may be upset with Pakistan, but when they were going through an internal crisis, it was not desirable for India to state the obvious," he said.

A Pakistani official said the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team bore the hallmarks of the same militants that carried out the assault on Mumbai.

Sri Lanka's cricketers were invited to Pakistan after India pulled out in January following tensions over the Mumbai raids.

Take a look at the attached photo gallery: Pakistan: Lahore Cricket Attack Copycat Of Mumbai.