In a heinous act, terrorists attacked the team bus of the visiting Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore, injuring six players and one member of the support staff at Lahore today. The attacks occurred as the Sri Lankan team was on its way to the Gaddafi Stadium early morning for the third day`s play of the second Test match. As many as 12 heavily armed gunmen carrying Kalashnikovs fired rocket propelled grenades at the Lankan team bus at Liberty Chowk. Eight persons, a majority of them Pakistani policemen who were assigned to protect the players are confirmed to have died in the attacks. Among the players confirmed injured are captain Mahela Jayawardene, Tharanga Paranavitana, Thilan Samaraweera, Chaminda Vaas, Kumar Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis and Paul Fabrace, a member of the team support staff. While Samaraweera and Paranavitana received bullet wounds, the others besides the head coach Trevor Bayliss sustained minor injuries. Sri Lanka`s cricketers and officials were later airlifted from the Gaddafi stadium by a Pak airforce helicopter to facilitate their return to Colombo. The Sri Lankan board immediately called of the tour. Reports said reserve umpire Ahsan Raza was seriously injured and had been operated on in a local hospital. The driver of the bus carrying the cricketers told reporters that the terrorists shot at his vehicle from all sides. A rocket fired from behind missed bus and hit an electric tower, he said. The driver said he had seen a tall and bearded terrorist wearing a shalwar kameez emerge from a white car and open fire at his bus. Another terrorist lobbed a grenade that passed under the bus, he said. "People started shouting in the bus and the players said `Go, go`. I drove the bus at high speed to the stadium. I then saw a Sri Lankan player was hit in the leg by a bullet. We called an ambulance and put him in it," said the driver, who did not give his name. Police chief Rehman said the attackers were armed with rocket-launchers, grenades and Kalashnikovs and had come to the spot in a rickshaw and several cars. Hours after the ambush, authorities defused two car bombs before they could explode and recovered a stash of weapons. The Pakistani team was still in its hotel at the time of the incident. Officials immediately took steps to prevent it from leaving the hotel. The Sri Lankan team had come to Pakistan after several other teams, including India, refused to tour the country because of security concerns. TV footage showed gunmen with backpacks firing at the convoy as they fled from the scene, with several vehicles damaged and unexploded grenades lying around. None of the attackers were killed or captured, Lahore police chief Haji Habibur Rehman said. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.