Hostages seized at army HQ

Published on Saturday 10 October 2009 21:40

TALEBAN militants were last night holding at least 15 security officers hostage inside the intelligence wing of Pakistan's army headquarters in Rawalpindi, following an audacious assault that left ten people dead.

As darkness fell, shots were heard being fired inside the compound.

The attack, the third major militant strike in Pakistan in a week, came as the government prepared for an imminent offensive against Islamist militants in their strongholds in the rugged mountains along the border with Afghanistan.

Demonstrating that the Taleban were capable of penetrating Pakistan's most powerful institution, the two gunmen were understood to be holed up in a "security office building" inside the heavily fortified complex close to the capital. The army uses that term to refer to the headquarters of either the military intelligence or Pakistan's premier spy agency, Inter Services Intelligence.

The whereabouts of military chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and ISI chief Lieutenant-General Ahmed Shujaa Pasha were not known. Separate army statements said Kayani attended meetings at his HQ and at the president's office in Islamabad during the day.

The attack began shortly before noon when the gunmen, dressed in camouflage and wielding assault rifles and grenades, drove a white van up to the army compound and opened fire, army spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas and a witness said.

"There was fierce firing, and then there was a blast," said Khan Bahadur, a shuttle van driver who was standing outside the compound gate. "The firing continued for about a half-hour. There was smoke everywhere. Then there was a break and then firing again."

After a 45-minute gunfight, four of the attackers were killed, said Abbas, who told the private Geo news television channel that the assault was over and the situation "under full control". But more than an hour later, gunshots rang out from the compound, and Abbas confirmed that gunmen had eluded security forces and slipped into the headquarters compound in Rawalpindi.

The city is filled with security checkpoints and police roadblocks. "We are trying to finish it (the siege] at the earliest, clear the area of terrorists and restore complete control," Abbas told local television.

Abbas said six troops were killed and five wounded, one critically. Those killed included a brigadier and a lieutenant-colonel, according to one military official. Pakistani media said the Taleban claimed responsibility for the attack, and interior minister Rehman Malik said the ongoing assaults strengthened the government's resolve to launch the offensive. "We have been left no other option except to go ahead to face them," he told local television. "We will have to proceed. All roads are leading to South Waziristan."

The gun battle was the latest in a string of attacks on Pakistani cities, including a car bombing that killed 49 on Friday in north-west Peshawar and the bombing of a UN aid agency in Islamabad on Monday in which five died. The man who attacked the UN was also wearing a security forces' uniform and was granted entry to the compound after asking to use the bathroom.

The militants appear to be ramping up their strikes in response to the government's planned offensive against Taleban strongholds in the border region of South Waziristan. Pakistan had vowed on Friday to launch the campaign in the wake of the Peshawar incident.

The US has been pushing Pakistan to take strong action against insurgents using its soil as a base for attacks in Afghanistan. The assault could be risky for the army, which was beaten back on three previous offensives into the Taleban heartland. However, it has been emboldened by successes in the Swat Valley and by the killing of Baitullah Mehsud.

Islamist militants have been carrying out nearly weekly attacks in Pakistan, but the sheer scale of Friday's bombing, which killed nine children, pushed the government to declare it would take the fight to the lawless tribal belt where al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden may be hiding.

Early this year the militants pushed to within 60 miles of Islamabad, raising fears for nuclear-armed Pakistan's stability. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said the government appeared to be "abdicating" to the militants.

The US needs Pakistani help against militants crossing into Afghanistan to battle US-led forces there. In late April, the security forces launched a sustained offensive in the Swat valley, 80 miles north-west of Islamabad, largely clearing Taleban from the region. The militants suffered another big blow on 5 August when their overall leader, Mehsud, was killed by a US drone aircraft in South Waziristan.

Mehsud's death and reports of infighting about who would take over as leader raised hopes that the militants were in disarray. But in recent weeks violence has been picking up again. The army went on the offensive in South Waziristan in June and has been launching air and artillery strikes, while moving in troops, blockading the region and trying to split off factions.

The army has declined to say when it would send in ground troops.