Sri Lanka's cricketers have Mehar Mohammad Khalil's quick wits to thank for their lives after the bus driver steered them to safety when they came under gunfire on Tuesday.
The diminutive Khalil drove the team to the safety of the Gaddafi stadium after it was attacked by around a dozen unidentified gunmen as they approached the stadium for the second test match.
"I was turning the bus towards the stadium near the main roundabout when I saw a rocket fired at us... it missed us and hit an electric pole after which all hell broke loose," Khalil told Reuters as he stood by the shattered bus.
The bullet-holed bus strongly suggested the target of the gunmen had been the Sri Lankan players.
"When the firing started one of the players shouted 'go, go' and somehow I kept my cool, ducked and pressed the accelerator and sped the bus towards the stadium," Khalil said.
The bus was attacked around 500 metres from the stadium with bullet shots sprayed on all four sides of the bus.
"They were skilled and they knew what they wanted. God helped us because they also threw a grenade under the bus which exploded after the bus had passed over it," he said.
Khalil, a professional driver for the past 22 years, has worked as a bus driver for many other foreign visiting teams and said there normally would be a police presence in front of the vehicle and elite commandos behind to provide security.
"I salute the elite commandos who kept the attackers engaged while I was able to speed the bus away," he said.
Five police died in the attack. Khalil said that working as a driver he usually developed a good rapport with the players.
"The players saved themselves by lying down on the floor of the bus as the firing was heavy from both sides," Khalil said.
Major assault
Earlier in the day, a dozen men attacked Sri Lanka's cricket team with rifles, grenades and rocket launchers ahead of a match in Pakistan, wounding several players and killing at least eight people, including police officers, in a brazen attack on South Asia's most beloved sport.
The assailants ambushed the convoy carrying the squad and match officials at a traffic circle close to the main sports stadium in Lahore ahead of a match against Pakistan's national team, triggering a 15-minute gun-battle with police guarding the vehicles.
None of the attackers were killed or captured at the scene, city police chief Haji Habibur Rehman said. Authorities did not speculate on the identities of the attackers or their motives.
Later security experts defused two car bombs in the Liberty market area and recovered a large amount of weapons including grenades, three kilogrammes of explosives, a pistol and a detonating cable after the deadly ambush.
TV footage showed gunmen with backpacks - apparently the attackers - firing at the convoy as they retreated from the scene, with several damaged vehicles and a lone, unexploded grenade lying on the ground.
Pakistan is battling a ferocious insurgency by militants with links to Al Qaida who have staged high-profile attacks on civilian targets before.
A Pakistan army helicopter has evacuated the uninjured members of the Sri Lankan cricket team from the stadium following an attack on its tour bus.
It was not clear where the team was headed. The chopper took off from the turf of the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in eastern Pakistan.
Lanka players safe
A Sri Lankan foreign ministry official said two players - Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavitana - were hospitalised. He said three more players were slightly injured and that the head coach, Australian Trevor Bayliss, also sustained minor injuries. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Squad member Kumar Sangakkara told Sri Lankan radio station Yes-FM “all the players are completely out of danger”.
“Luckily there's nothing serious and everyone is fine,” he said.
Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said little could be done to stop such an attack.
He said: “I think the Pakistani authorities have provided adequate security but as we know from experience ... there is never enough security to counter a well organized and determined terrorist group.”
The diminutive Khalil drove the team to the safety of the Gaddafi stadium after it was attacked by around a dozen unidentified gunmen as they approached the stadium for the second test match.
"I was turning the bus towards the stadium near the main roundabout when I saw a rocket fired at us... it missed us and hit an electric pole after which all hell broke loose," Khalil told Reuters as he stood by the shattered bus.
The bullet-holed bus strongly suggested the target of the gunmen had been the Sri Lankan players.
"When the firing started one of the players shouted 'go, go' and somehow I kept my cool, ducked and pressed the accelerator and sped the bus towards the stadium," Khalil said.
The bus was attacked around 500 metres from the stadium with bullet shots sprayed on all four sides of the bus.
"They were skilled and they knew what they wanted. God helped us because they also threw a grenade under the bus which exploded after the bus had passed over it," he said.
Khalil, a professional driver for the past 22 years, has worked as a bus driver for many other foreign visiting teams and said there normally would be a police presence in front of the vehicle and elite commandos behind to provide security.
"I salute the elite commandos who kept the attackers engaged while I was able to speed the bus away," he said.
Five police died in the attack. Khalil said that working as a driver he usually developed a good rapport with the players.
"The players saved themselves by lying down on the floor of the bus as the firing was heavy from both sides," Khalil said.
Major assault
Earlier in the day, a dozen men attacked Sri Lanka's cricket team with rifles, grenades and rocket launchers ahead of a match in Pakistan, wounding several players and killing at least eight people, including police officers, in a brazen attack on South Asia's most beloved sport.
The assailants ambushed the convoy carrying the squad and match officials at a traffic circle close to the main sports stadium in Lahore ahead of a match against Pakistan's national team, triggering a 15-minute gun-battle with police guarding the vehicles.
None of the attackers were killed or captured at the scene, city police chief Haji Habibur Rehman said. Authorities did not speculate on the identities of the attackers or their motives.
Later security experts defused two car bombs in the Liberty market area and recovered a large amount of weapons including grenades, three kilogrammes of explosives, a pistol and a detonating cable after the deadly ambush.
TV footage showed gunmen with backpacks - apparently the attackers - firing at the convoy as they retreated from the scene, with several damaged vehicles and a lone, unexploded grenade lying on the ground.
Pakistan is battling a ferocious insurgency by militants with links to Al Qaida who have staged high-profile attacks on civilian targets before.
A Pakistan army helicopter has evacuated the uninjured members of the Sri Lankan cricket team from the stadium following an attack on its tour bus.
It was not clear where the team was headed. The chopper took off from the turf of the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in eastern Pakistan.
Lanka players safe
A Sri Lankan foreign ministry official said two players - Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavitana - were hospitalised. He said three more players were slightly injured and that the head coach, Australian Trevor Bayliss, also sustained minor injuries. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Squad member Kumar Sangakkara told Sri Lankan radio station Yes-FM “all the players are completely out of danger”.
“Luckily there's nothing serious and everyone is fine,” he said.
Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said little could be done to stop such an attack.
He said: “I think the Pakistani authorities have provided adequate security but as we know from experience ... there is never enough security to counter a well organized and determined terrorist group.”
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