Suspected militants dressed in army uniforms attacked Pakistan’s army headquarters yesterday, killing six guards and triggering a battle in which four gunmen were killed, military officials said.
The brazen attack on the tightly guarded headquarters in the city of Rawalpindi came as the army prepares a major offensive against Pakistani Taliban militants in their northwestern stronghold on the Afghan border.
The gunmen drove in a white van to a main gate at the sprawling complex, opening fire and throwing at least one grenade when challenged, security officials said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The gunmen exchanged fire with soldiers for about 40 minutes. Four gunmen and six guards were killed but two of the gunmen escaped, military officials said.
“Two terrorists are still missing, a search operation is on,” said a military official who declined to be identified.
Another military official said some firing had been heard and a helicopter was helping in the search for the two gunmen. Dawn television said the fleeing gunmen had taken two hostages.
Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militants have launched numerous attacks in Pakistan over the past couple of years — most aimed at the security forces and government and foreign targets.
The militants have attacked military targets in Rawalpindi before.
Television pictures showed the militants’ white van, its doors open, where the gunmen abandoned it by concrete barriers outside the gate.
The attack came a day after a suspected suicide bomber killed 49 people in the city of Peshawar.
Early this year, militants pushed to within 100km of Islamabad, raising fears for nuclear-armed Pakistan’s stability.
An exasperated 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.
In late April, Pakistani forces launched a sustained offensive in the Swat valley, largely clearing Taliban from the region.
The militants suffered another big blow on Aug. 5, when their overall leader, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in an attack by a missile-firing US drone aircraft in South Waziristan.
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