KARACHI, Nov 12: Security has been beefed up for the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team after the recent militant attack in Pakistan.
Sources said that Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the Federal Minister for Interior, had met officials of the Sri Lankan team and assured them of fool-proof security.
Pakistan has indirectly blamed Afghanistan’s Taliban government again for allowing its land to be used by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to carry out terror attacks in Pakistan.
Tensions have been high between the two countries after peace talks failed in Doha following military action by Pakistan on areas inside Afghanistan, where the military says the TTP has camps.
On Tuesday, a suicide bomber detonated himself outside a judicial complex in Islamabad killing 12 people and injuring scores, while in Northern Pakistan’s Wana area a terror attack on the Wana Cadet College was foiled by security forces and around 300 students were safely evacuated.
Federal Minister for Information, Ata Tarar said if security forces had not acted swiftly Pakistan could have witnessed a bigger incident like the Peshawar school attack in 2018.
Three years back the New Zealand team cancelled a white ball series in Rawalpindi and returned home without playing a match after receiving creditable intelligence information about a possible terror attack targeting the visitors.
“That is why Mohsin Naqvi personally went to the stadium and met with the visiting team members and assured them they would be safe and secure,” the source said.
Back in March, 2009, TTP terrorists had attacked the Sri Lankan team bus close to the Gaddafi stadium, resulting in the closure of international cricket in Pakistan for nearly 10 years as foreign teams refused to visit the country due to security concerns. “Security has been beefed up with Pakistan Army and the paramilitary rangers now deputed to monitor security for the visiting players and officials,” the source said.
FIRING AT NASEEM SHAH’S ANCESTRAL HOME DUE TO PERSONAL DISPUTE
The firing incident at the ancestral home of Pakistan cricketer Naseem Shah has been attributed to a possible dispute over property by police probing the attack that has caused a furore in the region.
Unknown assailants fired at the gate of Naseem’s ancestral home in Lower Dir district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa though the bowler decided to stay with the team for the first ODI against Sri Lanka on Tuesday as nobody was harmed in the incident.
Taimur Khan, the District Police Officer (DPO) in Lower Dir, said that initial investigations indicated at property dispute or regional enmity.
“It could be the result of the overall security environment in the area,” Khan said.
He said he had met with Naseem’s father and other relatives and formed a team to investigate the incident and additional security was also provided at the cricketer’s residence.
He added that the attackers fired shots at the entrance of the Hujra (guest space) next to the family home in Lower Dir.(PTI)
