Lahore attackers didn’t arrive by boat,quips Pak media

‘Mumbai terror visits Lahore’,read the headline of a story in the influential Dawn newspaper,whose editorial regretted that the attack had proved that even the ‘most esteemed guests are no longer safe in this country’.

“Assured of security,Sri Lanka chose to play in Pakistan when the cricketing world at large saw us as a pariah state. They chose to play in a country whose very mention invokes images of most gruesome violence imaginable in the minds of most foreigners,” the editorial said.

‘The News’,in its editorial titled ‘Cricket,the requiem’,said the only thing that anyone could be sure of was that whoever attacked the cricket team ‘did not arrive by boat’.

Touching on the blame game after the attack,including suggestions of an Indian involvement,it said: “There is no shortage of highly competent,well-armed and trained groups within our own borders capable of such an operation”.

While paying tribute to the policemen who saved the Sri Lankans,the Dawn’s editorial said,”a security lapse did occur,officialdom’s denials notwithstanding”.

Referring to peace talks with Taliban in the Swat valley,it said that the assault highlights ‘the folly of negotiating with those bent on destroying with our way of life’.

Many in the Sri Lankan team were probably regretting the decision,the newspaper added.

Contending that no Pakistani militant or terrorist organisation bears a grudge against Sri Lanka,the editorial suggested that the attack was carried out by internal or external elements who wish to either destabilise the Pakistan government or to further isolate it internationally.

Noting that Tuesday’s attack was carried out by individuals who have ‘received highly sophisticated combat training’,the ‘Dawn’ said their ‘approach was not dissimilar to that adopted by the Mumbai gunmen. Perhaps the same organisation is to blame for both tragedies’.

‘The News’ termed it ‘a carefully planned and executed attack,carried out by people who knew what they were doing,and who appear to have been well armed’.

Pointing out that within minutes a PPP politician told a private TV channel that ‘this is clearly work of a foreign hand’ the edit said,Pakistani militants ‘have no need of foreign assistance or money there are plenty of people here happy to finance them and offer logistical support’.