Hunt for culprits of Lahore attack

1 ANSWERS

1. Amit bang
   

   The video footage of the assault on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore is a stark reminder of the November attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai, in which about 10 suspected militants held the city hostage for three days.
   
   A similar number of men staged an equally audacious attack in Lahore. They ambushed the bus that was taking the Sri Lankan team to the stadium for a match with Pakistan.
   
   Though the targets of the two attacks were vastly different, the attacks themselves were both spectacularly staged against high-value targets and made international headlines.
   
   The style of these attacks is also reminiscent of an attack by a group of militants on the Indian parliament in the winter of 2001.
   
   The Indian authorities blamed that attack - and the Mumbai assault - on a Pakistan-based militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
   
   Grab of gunmen in Lahore
   The shooting began near the Gaddafi stadium
   After some procrastination, the Pakistani authorities also endorsed the Indian claim in relation to the Mumbai attacks, saying at least nine men affiliated with LeT had sailed out from its southern port city, Karachi, to attack the Indian financial hub.
   
   It has arrested several top LeT leaders in connection with that attack.
   
   Could it be, then, that the LeT has turned back on Pakistan to even scores?
   
   LeT is one of a number of militant groups that are believed to have been raised, trained and funded by the Pakistani security apparatus to fight Indian troops in the disputed region of Kashmir.
   
   It is generally considered to be sympathetic to Pakistani security interests in the region - and analysts doubt that it would try to destabilise a Pakistani government unless it had been given a nod from within the security establishment.
   
   That establishment has been blamed in the past for using militants, especially sectarian outfits, to destabilise civilian governments during the 1990s.
   
   The attack in Lahore has happened at a time when a civilian government is in power after eight years of military rule.
   
   'Rogue' elements
   
   The government has made some diplomatic concessions to India which the military - which considers India as the enemy - may not like.

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