Islamabad - Pakistan Wednesday assured Sri Lanka of a crackdown on the gunmen who attacked the Lankan cricket team, as investigators grilled at least a dozen suspects to try to determine who was behind the attack that left seven dead.

Seven members of the Sri Lankan squad and their British coach were wounded, none of them seriously, when up to 14 gunmen ambushed their bus Tuesday at a roundabout near Gaddafi Stadium in the heart of Lahore, the capital of the eastern province of Punjab on Tuesday.

But five elite police officers, a traffic warden and two passers- by were killed in the shootout.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohita Bogollagama arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday to discuss the investigations into the attack which underscored again Pakistan's vulnerability to violence mostly linked to Islamist and Taliban militants.

"Progress has been made in the investigation and the perpetrators will be exposed and brought to justice," Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari told Bogollagama.

Police rounded up dozens of suspects in overnight raids, mostly centred around poor settlements on the edge of Lahore's upscale Gulberg neighbourhood, where the ambush took place.

"Some suspects are being interrogated but, so far, we have not been able to establish any direct link," Lahore police chief Haji Habibur Rehman said. "Still we are making progress."

A blood-stained shirt and a live hand grenade were seized overnight by the police from a private hostel in Gulberg. There were media reports that some of the attackers were among the detained people, but Rehman did not confirm this.

The Punjab government also announced a 125,000-US-dollar reward for any leads, publishing ads in national newspapers, showing television still images in which two terrorists were pictured from two angles carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles and backpacks.

"The firing on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore has disgraced the country," read the Urdu-language ad.

Investigators said an initial inquiry indicated that the attackers intended to take the cricketers hostage rather than to kill them.

Security officials seized a large stack of arms and ammunition, including a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and hand grenades, abandoned by the attackers at different points around the site of attack.

The gunmen's backpacks were also filled with food and high-calorie dry fruits, a possible indication that they were preparing for an extended-period situation as in a hostage-taking.

The daylight assault bore the hallmarks of the November gun-and bomb three-day siege in India's financial hub of Mumbai, where 10 gunmen killed at least 170 people and wounded more than 300 others.

New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group for that incident.

Pakistani authorities were facing domestic allegations that the security for the Lankan cricketers was inadequate, despite assurances that the highest level of security would be provided.

Only two police vans were escorting the Sri Lankan team when it came under attack. However, Pakistani Information Minister Sherry Rehman told reporters in Islamabad that "boxed security" was provided to the guests.

"Our policemen died in front of them (Sri Lankan players). These are the testaments that they were provided with (security) cover, otherwise the situation would have been much different," Rehman said.

Meanwhile, people swarmed the attack site, Liberty Chowk (square), to pay homage to the police who they said "gave their lives while protecting the guests."

Flowers were laid around the portrait of the slain traffic warden along with a banner inscribed with praise for the other five police officers.

"I am a defender of 'Attack on Liberty'," read the inscription on the traffic warden's portrait. (dpa)