Pakistani investigative agencies picked up around 24 suspects in connection with the brazen terror assault on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore but made little headway on Wednesday in zeroing in on the dozen terrorists who fled after injuring seven players and killing eight people. The suspects were detained during raids by a special investigation team on hostels and guest houses in Lahore's Gulberg area,located near Liberty Chowk traffic roundabout where the Sri Lankan team's bus was attacked on Tuesday. However,no "prime suspects" are believed to be among those taken into custody,TV channels reported quoting sources. Some among those held are believed to be Afghan nationals aged between 20 and 30 years. Investigators found some bloodstained clothes at a hostel in Gulberg while weapons and explosives were seized from 14 locations across Lahore,the reports said. The government of Punjab province has offered a reward of Rs one crore for information leading to the arrest of terrorists responsible for the attack and their accomplices. Taliban,Lashkar possible 'suspects': NYT American counter-terrorism officials were quoted on Thursday as saying that the Taliban and Lashkar-Taiba were possible suspects to have carried out the deadly attack on Sri Lankan cricket team. Though it is still not clear and to early to identify which group's hand was in the attack,but 'The New York Times' quoted an unidentified South Asia specialist as raising the possibility that LTTE in Sri Lanka might have asked Lashkar-e-Taiba militants in Pakistan to attack the visiting cricket team. If true,this would be an ominous sign of collaboration between regional terrorist groups,it commented. American experts,the paper said,voiced concern that such attacks might be the new terrorist strike of choice instead of suicide bombings. "It's likely there will be more of these kinds of attacks,which are much more difficult to defend against," Juan Zarate,the White House's top counter-terrorism official under President George W Bush told the paper. "Mumbai has become a terrorist exemplar." In Lahore,the paper noted,the attackers also appeared to be in their early 20s. They wore sneakers and loose pants and carried backpacks loaded with weapons and high-energy snacks of dried fruit and chocolate,all characteristics of the Mumbai gunmen. The gunmen in Lahore walked casually as they fired,a stance that appeared to be part of the training of the attackers in Mumbai,security experts were quoted as saying. The (Lahore) attack appeared to have been well planned. Because it occurred on the third day of the cricketers' match,the assailants had time to carry out reconnaissance on the previous mornings,the 'Times' said. The Sri Lankan team,it noted,had been particularly welcomed because it had agreed to play in Pakistan after other major world teams had refused to come,citing poor security. Last year,the Australian,British and South African cricket teams said they would not take part in the Champions Trophy,a major world cricket event scheduled in Pakistan. After the Mumbai attack,the Indian team refused to come for matches planned in 2009. The series with Sri Lanka represented a sort of coming out for Pakistani fans starved of first-class cricket at home,the 'Times' added. To persuade the Sri Lankans to visit,the Pakistanis offered presidential-style security,Pakistani television reported. But the 'Times' said to show that the Sri Lankan cricket team did not receive the security it had asked for,the 'Dawn' television channel on Tuesday night showed the elaborate motorcades with bullet-proof vehicles travelling at high speed with flashing lights used by senior Pakistani officials. In contrast,the television report showed bullet holes in the windows of the cricketers' bus,the paper said.
