LANKAN PLAYERS SHOT IN LAHORE

Six members of the Sri Lankan cricket squad were wounded and five policemen killen when around a dozen gunmen attacked their bus as it drove under police escort to a stadium in the Pakistani city of Lahore.

Lahore Police chief Habib-ur-Rehman said five people were killed in the attack by the unidentified gunmen, who fired AK 47s and rockets and hurled grenades as the team bus drove to the 60,000-seater Gaddafi stadium in the eastern city.

A Sri Lankan foreign ministry official confirmed that two players - Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavitana - were hospitalized. 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.

"Police are chasing the terrorists," police chief Habib-ur-Rehman said. "They appeared to be trained men."

The attack had echoes with one on the Indian city of Mumbai in November which led to the Indian cricket team cancelling its planned tour of Pakistan.

India blamed that attack on Pakistan-trained militants and the incident sharply raised tension between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

Sri Lanka, which had been invited to Pakistan after India pulled out, immediately cancelled the rest of the tour.