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Same as those who struck Mumbai: Punjab Governor

Lahore: The terrorists who attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team here on Tuesday were the same who had struck in Mumbai, Punjab Governor Salman Taseer has said.

“It was a planned terrorist act on the pattern of the attack on Mumbai. I believe the same terrorists are involved in both the incidents,” Mr. Taseer told reporters.

More than 170 people were killed in the Mumbai terror attack that began on November 26 last year and ended only 60 hours later.

Mr. Taseer told a TV channel that the Sri Lankan team was provided “VIP security. They had full security, otherwise worse would have happened. The security personnel fought back.”

He said though (former Pakistan President) General Pervez Musharraf had security, he was also attacked twice. “A stash of arms and ammunition has been seized,” said Mr. Taseer, adding: “We are pursuing these people. We will get the perpetrators.”

He went on to say that Pakistan was a victim of terrorism. Meanwhile, at least five Shia Muslims were shot dead on Tuesday in an apparent sectarian attack near Pakistan’s south-western city of Quetta.

Two gunmen riding on a motorbike opened fire at the victims, who were travelling in a private car on the eastern by-pass outside Quetta, capital of Balochistan province which borders Iran and Afghanistan. “All the five men, who were members of the Shia Muslim community, died on the spot,” local police official Abdul Khalid told AFP. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the killings. — IANS, AFP

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