Pakistani authorities have arrested up to 100 people as they search for at least 12 armed men behind an attack on a bus carrying Sri Lanka's cricket team.
Tuesday's assault in the eastern city of Lahore left eight Pakistanis, including six policemen, dead and several Sri Lankan cricketers wounded.
A reward of $125,000 has also been offered for help in finding the attackers.
The men, armed with Kalashnikovs and hand grenades, targeted the Sri Lankan team's bus on Tuesday in Lahore, where Pakistan had been playing the visitors.
Seven players and an assistant coach were among the 19 wounded.
No one has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place as the Sri Lankans were on their way to play a match against their Pakistani hosts at the Gaddafi stadium.
Kamal Hyder, Al Jazeera's correspondent, reporting from Lahore, said: "Overnight the security forces in the province of Punjab arrested up to a hundred people."
"The governor himself has hinted that the security lapse in the province of Punjab allowed these attackers to penetrate into the heart of the city and strike with impunity," he said.
Constable's protest
One local police constable has resigned in protest against what he says is a lack of government support.
Ather Abbas said: "If the government supports us, then we can fight the terrorists. If high officials do not support us, how can we fight them? We will also be killed like our colleagues this morning."
Rehman Malik, the head of the interior ministry, declared the country to be "in a state of war", but told Pakistanis: "Be patient, we will flush all these terrorists out of the country."
He did not rule the role of a "foreign hand" in the attack.
The Sri Lankan government has condemned the assault as "cowardly" and said it was sending its foreign minister to Pakistan.
In television footage aired on Tuesday, the apparent attackers could be seen firing at the bus carrying the Sri Lankan team as they retreated from the scene of the attack in Lahore.
Grenades, plastic explosives and two unexploded car bombs belonging to the attackers were recovered from the area, police said.
"The high quantity of weapons recovered from the site of the attack suggest the terrorists were well-prepared and organized," Habib Rehman, the Lahore police chief, said.
Players return
Two members of the Sri Lankan team, Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavitana, were sent to hospital but later released.
Officials said that in addition to the wounded players Paul Farbrace, the team's assistant coach, and Brenden Kurrupu, the manager, were also hurt.
Pakistani air force helicopters later took the Sri Lankan cricket team - including two players on stretchers - from the Gaddafi stadium to an air base.
They have since arrived back in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, to an emotional welcome from relatives.
Sri Lanka's cricketers were invited to play in Pakistan after India pulled out of a scheduled test match over security concerns.
PHOTO CAPTION
Pakistani security officials display ammunition recovered near and at the site of the shooting attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, in Lahore March 3, 2009.
Al-Jazeera