By Augustine Anthony
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan - Pakistani commandos stormed an office
building Sunday and rescued 39 people taken hostage by suspected
Taliban militants after a brazen attack on the army's
headquarters.
Saturday's attack on the tightly guarded army headquarters in
the city of Rawalpindi, next door to the capital, Islamabad, came
as the military prepared an offensive against the militants in
their stronghold of South Waziristan on the Afghan border.
The strike at the heart of the powerful military called into
question government assertions 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.
"Now there is no terrorist left there. The operation is over,"
Abbas told Reuters.
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.
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 a.m. .
"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 the city of 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.
Abbas identified the militant captured Sunday 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.
VIOLENT WEEK
The attack on the army came at the end of a violent week.
Last Monday, a suicide bomber attacked a U.N. office in
Islamabad killing five staff members, and Friday a suspected
suicide bomber killed 49 people in Peshawar.
"All roads lead to South Waziristan," Interior Minister Rehman
Malik said Saturday, referring to all of the attacks. "Now the
government has no other option but to launch an offensive."
The army has been preparing an offensive with air and artillery
attacks but has not said when ground troops will go in.
The United States needs Pakistani help against militants
crossing into Afghanistan to fight U.S.-led forces there and has
been urging action against Afghan Taliban factions on the
border.
In March, militants pushed to within 100 km of Islamabad,
sparking grave concern among allies, including the United States,
for Pakistan's prospects, and fears for the safety of its nuclear
weapons.
In late April, the army launched an offensive in Swat, northwest
of Islamabad, and largely cleared out the Taliban.
The militants suffered another big blow on August 5, when their
leader, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in a missile attack by a U.S.
drone aircraft. His successor vowed revenge last week.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the Saturday
attack and she and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband
expressed confidence in the security of Pakistani nuclear
facilities.
Washington had every confidence in the government's control over
its nuclear weapons, Clinton told a London news conference.