Pak Army retakes GHQ,frees hostages,captures militant

The strike at the heart of the powerful military called into question government assertions that the militants were virtually crippled by recent setbacks. But a top official said it only underlined the need to finish them off. The United States condemned the attack and expressed confidence in the security of its ally’s nuclear arsenal.

Three hostages,two commandos and four of the gunmen were killed in the pre-dawn rescue operation,said army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas. One wounded gunman was captured and Abbas said he was the ringleader.

(A PTI report said at least 19 people were killed during the attack — 6 armymen,2 commandos,8 terrorists and 3 hostages).

“Now there is no terrorist left there. The operation is over,” Abbas told Reuters.

Abbas identified the captured militant as Aqeel,alias Dr Usman. A security official in Punjab said Usman was believed to be a member of the notorious Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group.

“Militants we arrested in Lahore had told us during interrogation that he masterminded the attack on the Sri Lankan team and provided weapons,” said the official. Some hostage takers’ phone calls were intercepted and they were speaking Punjabi,another security official said.

Pakistani Taliban militants linked to al Qaeda have launched numerous attacks over the past couple of years,most aimed at the government and security forces,including bomb attacks in Rawalpindi.

On Saturday,gunmen wearing army uniforms attacked the army headquarters,killing six soldiers including a Brigadier and a Lieutenant Colonel in a gunbattle at a main gate.

Five gunmen were killed there and two of their wounded colleagues captured. But others fled and took hostages in a building housing security offices near the headquarters. Commandos launched their assault under cover of darkness with a blast and gunfire erupting at 6 am.

“They were in a room with a terrorist who was wearing a suicide jacket but the commandos acted promptly and gunned him down before he could pull the trigger,” Abbas said of one large group of hostages. Three of the hostages were killed due to militant firing,he said. More hostages were later found alive.

The raid bore the hallmarks of several similarly ruthless swarm attacks this year.

In March,gunmen attacked Sri Lanka’s cricket team as it drove to a match in Lahore and weeks later militants raided a police cadet college in the same city. Those attacks were blamed on the Pakistani Taliban,widely believed to have been helped by militants from Punjab province.

Last Monday,a suicide bomber attacked a UN office in Islamabad killing five staff members,and on Friday a suspected suicide bomber killed 49 people in Peshawar.

“All roads lead to South Waziristan,” Interior Minister Rehman Malik said,referring to the string of attacks.