Court acquits two in Sri Lanka team attack case

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Wednesday acquitted two accused in the Sri Lanka cricket team attack case.

Obaidullah and Ibrahim Khalil had been accused of providing arms and training to the terrorists involved in the attack on a visiting Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore on March 3, 2009.

Police last year said they killed three other militants involved in the 2009 attack. A US drone air strike earlier this year had killed another militant accused of involvement in the deadly attack.

The Counter-Terrorism Department had offered a bounty of Rs2 million for Qari Mohammad Yasin, saying he was involved in the attack, allegedly organised by militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.

The Sri Lankan cricket team was travelling by bus when at least 10 gunmen fired at them with rifles, grenades and rockets, wounding six players and a British coach and killing eight Pakistanis.

Most international cricket tours to Pakistan were subsequently cancelled and the country was forced to play all its “home” games in the United Arab Emirates.

Source: The Nation