Lashkar-e-Jhangvi wanted to kidnap Sri Lankan Cricket team for prisoner swap
According to recent news reports in the Pakistani media, one of the alleged terrorists captured after the attack on the touring Sri Lankan cricket team confessed that a group known as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi was behind the attacks on the visiting team.
According to the arrested assassin, who goes by the name of Abdul Wahab (alias- Omar), the terrorist group wanted to kidnap the Sri Lankans in order to put pressure on the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 government to release arrested fellow terrorists.
Talking to a reporter from Pakistan's Geo television, he said, "We were supposed to take them hostage and then our superiors would have bargained their release in exchange for some of our companions in their custody".
Wahab also revealed that the whole plot was planned in Waziristan, a place notoriously known to be plagued by terrorist hideouts. "The operation was planned in Waziristan and there were 12 of us designated for this mission. I belonged to the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
Amjad Farooqi group".
In 2009 the Pakistan Army pushed into South Waziristan in a bid to destroy terrorist infrastructure in the area. The United States Of America (http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Usa-c759) has also been heavily targeting hideouts in the North of the region with the help of Predator drone strikes.
The Sri Lankan team came under a terrorist ambush in Lahore when they were on their way to the Gaddafi Stadium, during their tour of Pakistan. The police detailed for the security of the visiting team was completely caught off guard. However, the driver
of the bus managed to drive the bus to safety under the barrage of bullets. In the attack, 6 Sri Lankans got injured while 8 Pakistanis lost their lives.
Revealing further details of the attack, the arrested terrorist said, "We came in a rickshaw and on motorcycles that we had purchased for this operation. We got our ammunition and guns in Lahore, a day before the operation was carried out". Wahab further
revealed that after the failure of the operation, his companions fled to Waziristan immediately.
The incident was a massive embarrassment for Pakistan. After the incident, Pakistan became a no-go area for many international teams because the foreign teams felt that it would not be safe for them to take part in any sporting event in the country. This
has virtually put an end to any international cricketing event in the country.
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