Taliban take 10 to 15 Pakistan officers hostage

The attack came as the army prepared for a major offensive against Taliban (File)

[ Saturday, 10 October 2009 ]

Ten dead as Taliban attack Pakistan Army HQ
Taliban take 10 to 15 Pakistan officers hostage

Rawalpindi, PAKISTAN (Agencies)
Taliban gunmen who tried to storm Pakistan's army headquarters Saturday have taken 10 to 15 hostages after a firefight that left six soldiers and four attackers dead, officials said.At least six insurgents armed with automatic weapons and grenades drove up to the compound and shot their way through one checkpost in the garrison town of Rawalpindi, before being stopped by security forces at a second post.

Four gunmen were killed but at least two managed to flee during the fierce firefight, barricading themselves into a security office near the headquarters, as gunship helicopters circled overhead, the military said."There are more than two terrorists who have taken some security personnel as hostages. Efforts are under way for their safe recovery," the military's spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said on state-run television."Security forces have surrounded the terrorists. We are trying to recover the hostages safely," he added."According to our assessment the number of hostages is 10 to 15," Abbas later told private TV channel Geo."There could be four to five terrorists inside the building," he said.Pakistan's Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack that also killed six security guards.

Offensive looms
The attack came as the army prepares for a major offensive against Pakistani Taliban militants in their northwestern stronghold on the Afghan border.It also came a day after a suspected suicide car-bomber killed 49 people in the city of Peshawar in an attack the government said underscored the need for the all-out offensive.The Pakistani Taliban have vowed to increase attacks to avenge the killing of their leader Baitullah Mehsud in a U.S. drone strike in August.Al- Qaeda-linked Islamist militants who have launched numerous attacks over the past couple of years, most aimed at the security forces and government and foreign targets.In recent weeks violence has been picking up after a relative lull following Mehsud's killing.The government ordered the army to go on the offensive in South Waziristan in June and security forces have been launching air and artillery strikes, while moving in troops, blockading the region and trying to split off factions.

Alarabiya.net