Pakistani police said yesterday they would wrap up an interim report within 24 hours into the deadly Sri Lankan cricket attack after authorities said the perpetrators had been identified.
Pakistan has faced mounting international concern about poor security for the Sri Lankan team with questions raised about the nuclear-armed nation’s ability to combat Taliban and al-Qaeda linked militants.
“A little more time is required to complete the investigation ... We hope to complete the investigation by evening or tomorrow morning,” said Khaled Farooq, the police chief of Punjab Province.
Police released sketches of four suspects and have brought in about two dozen people for questioning over Tuesday’s assaults, but no leads have been announced despite press speculation that homegrown militants were responsible.
“We have identified the people who did the operation,” provincial Governor Salman Taseer told reporters in Lahore late on Thursday.
Up to 12 men attacked the convoy of officials, coaches and players, firing automatic weapons, grenades and a rocket launcher as the vehicles approached Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. All the attackers fled without trace.
Embarrassing footage, captured by closed-circuit cameras, showed several suspects making a leisurely getaway from the scene of the attack, ambling down a deserted road without any police or security forces chasing them.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia, home to two officials caught up in the ambush, demanded to know how they were able to stage the assault, killing eight and wounding seven players.
“I am sufficiently concerned about what has been said by the Australians that we need an explanation and we intend to get one,” he told a radio interviewer yesterday.
Simon Taufel, one of the umpires traveling in the convoy with the Sri Lankan team, said his bus had been left unprotected once the assault began.
“You tell me why supposedly 20 armed commandos were in our convoy and when the team bus got going again, we were left on our own? I don’t have any answers to these questions,” he said.
Pakistani lawmakers have accused the government of a “serious security lapse,” highlighting reports that authorities were warned of a possible attack.
The top government official for Lahore conceded on Thursday there were gaps in the security provisions made for the Sri Lankan team.
“A terrorist has to succeed only once, whereas security has to be successful all the time. After every incident one gets wiser. You get to know all the gaps and how you should not repeat those gaps,” Khusro Pervaiz told reporters.
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