DUBAI // Ahsan Raza lay on the floor of the minibus, covered in blood and fighting for breath with two gunshot wounds to his chest.
Bullets tore through the vehicle, shattering windows, as he thought of his three young daughters and prayed he would live to see them again.
Mr Raza was not a soldier at war.
He was a cricket umpire, caught up in the ambush of the Sri Lankan national team in Pakistan earlier this year. It was the first attack on a national sports team since 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were killed by Palestinian militants at the Munich Olympic Games in 1972.
On March 3 in Lahore, about a dozen gunmen using AK-47s, grenades and rockets launched an assault on a convoy of minibuses carrying the Sri Lankan team and game officials.
Mr Raza, a 36-year-old Pakistani, was a casualty of the ongoing battle between armed fundamentalists and Taliban forces who are struggling to wrestle power from the Pakistani government.
Eight men were killed and seven wounded in the seven-minute battle in the heart of the city, less than a mile from the Gaddafi Stadium, where Sri Lanka was due to play Pakistan.
One bullet punctured Mr Raza's right lung, another hit his liver. "I thought I was going to die. I was 100 per cent sure of it," he said, pausing frequently to take deep breaths as he recounted the attack.
"The trauma of it is always with me. I used to have bad dreams. I can remember the fear."
He stayed in a hospital's intensive care unit for 26 days, and needed 22 bottles of blood to survive. Doctors twice warned his family that they feared that he would die.
This week, however, the former wicket-keeper and batsman has returned to the international stage. On Monday, he took part in his first international match since the attack, when he was appointed fourth umpire at the one-day International between New Zealand and Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.
Today, he will be the third umpire in the Twenty20 match between the same two sides in Dubai.
Mr Raza said he was eager to put the horror behind him.
His memories of the attack are crystalline. His minibus was behind the Sri Lankan team in an armed police convoy heading to the stadium.
He was sitting behind the driver and looked up as the first shots were fired. He saw two policemen ahead of him fall dead.
"I shouted to everyone to get down on the floor. Then the bullets started to hit our bus. I was lying on the floor by the door and I could hear Chris [Broad, the International Cricket Council umpire] screaming.
"I got up to try and comfort him and that is when I was hit. One bullet went through the front of my chest near my armpit, and the second went in the middle of my stomach.
"The pain was terrible. It felt like burning. There was a lot of blood and I was so thirsty. I kept asking Chris to get me something to drink."
He was left with only 60 per cent use of his lung.
"I can never forgive them for [what they did]," he said.
"It is not just what they did to me and the other men that day, but what they did to my country. They tried to ruin my country's reputation."
Since the attack, Pakistan has been stripped of its right to host international cricket matches and it seems unlikely that the ban will be lifted after a series of recent violent attacks.
But Mr Raza is optimistic for the future. He said: "After the attack, I had planned to spend the rest of my life in England, but then I changed my mind. I thought, if I do that, it means I am scared of them [the gunmen]. It means those people who are trying to intimidate us, win.
"It was wonderful to get back on to the field this week. It was exhilarating.
"I just hope it will not be too long until international cricket comes back to Pakistan."
chamilton@thenational.ae
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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Schedule:
Sept 15: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka (Dubai)
Sept 16: Pakistan v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 17: Sri Lanka v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 18: India v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 19: India v Pakistan (Dubai)
Sept 20: Bangladesh v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi) Super Four
Sept 21: Group A Winner v Group B Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 21: Group B Winner v Group A Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 23: Group A Winner v Group A Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 23: Group B Winner v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 25: Group A Winner v Group B Winner (Dubai)
Sept 26: Group A Runner-up v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 28: Final (Dubai)
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
If you go
Flying
Despite the extreme distance, flying to Fairbanks is relatively simple, requiring just one transfer in Seattle, which can be reached directly from Dubai with Emirates for Dh6,800 return.
Touring
Gondwana Ecotours’ seven-day Polar Bear Adventure starts in Fairbanks in central Alaska before visiting Kaktovik and Utqiarvik on the North Slope. Polar bear viewing is highly likely in Kaktovik, with up to five two-hour boat tours included. Prices start from Dh11,500 per person, with all local flights, meals and accommodation included; gondwanaecotours.com
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 760Nm
Price: Dh898,000
On sale: now
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
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The Dark Blue Winter Overcoat & Other Stories From the North
Edited and Introduced by Sjón and Ted Hodgkinson
Pushkin Press
The Little Things
Directed by: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto
Four stars
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now
Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.
The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.
1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):
a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33
b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.
2. For those who have worked more than five years
c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.
Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
If you go
The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
