Thilan Samaraweera, seen batting Monday, reportedly was one of two players wounded by shrapnel in the attack on Tuesday. (K.M. Chaudary/Associated Press)

Five police officers were killed and members of Sri Lanka's national cricket team were wounded Tuesday by unidentified gunmen in Lahore, Pakistan.

A dozen masked gunmen reportedly opened fire on a van taking members of the Sri Lankan team to Gaddafi Stadium, where they were scheduled to play Pakistan in the third day of a Test match.

Video showed the team's white van at a traffic circle near the stadium, the windshield riddled with bullet holes, and a police motorcycle crashed on the road as authorities scrambled to secure the scene.

Authorities were reluctant to speculate on the identity of the assailants or a motive for the ambush.

Lahore police chief Haji Habibur Rehman said that five officers were killed and two players were admitted to hospital.

"It was a terrorist attack and the terrorists used rocket launchers, hand grenades and other weapons," Rehman said. "Our police sacrificed their lives to protect the Sri Lankan team."

Sri Lanka vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara told Reuters that Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavithana were the two players taken to hospital for treatment.

He said Samaraweera was struck by shrapnel in the leg and Paranavithana suffered a minor shrapnel wound in the chest.

Police said the two players were "in a stable condition."

Assistant coach Paul Farbrace and three other players — Mahela Jayawardena, Ajantha Mendis and Sangakkara — reportedly suffered minor injuries in the attack.

The Test match was cancelled outright, and the uninjured members of the Sri Lankan team were evacuated from inside the stadium by a Pakistan army helicopter, which landed on the turf.

Sangakkara told a Sri Lankan radio station that "the players are completely out of danger. Luckily, there is nothing serious and everyone is fine."

'We are sorry for the Sri Lankan team'

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa swiftly condemned the attack, as did India's home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram.

"We are sorry for the Sri Lankan team," Chidambaram said.

Sri Lanka was invited to play the Test as a replacement of sorts for India's national team, which cancelled a planned tour of Pakistan on Dec. 18.

India was slated to play three Tests, five one-day matches and a Twenty20 international on the tour, to be held between Jan. 13 and Feb. 19.

But sports minister M.S. Gill instructed the team not to travel to Pakistan following the militant attacks in Mumbai.

The International Cricket Council, the sport's governing body, decided last month not to hold the eight-team Champions Trophy in Pakistan in the fall because of concerns over security and simmering political tensions in the region.

The ICC intended to announce a new venue for the elite one-day tournament in April, but it has yet to commit to revisiting a decision to let Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh jointly host the Cricket World Cup in 2011.

With files from the Associated Press