Pakistan gunmen 'holding hostages'
Heavily armed militants were holding between 10 and 15 soldiers hostage inside army headquarters after they attacked the complex in an audacious assault on Pakistan's most powerful institution.
The attack, which left at least 10 people dead, was the third major militant strike in Pakistan in a week and came as the government was planning an imminent offensive against Islamist militants in their strongholds in the rugged mountains along the border with Afghanistan.
It showed that the militants retain the ability to strike at the very heart of Pakistan's security apparatus despite recent military operations against their forces and the killing of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in a CIA drone attack in August.
Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said "four or five" assailants were holding between 10 and 15 troops hostage in a building close to the main gates of the complex in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
He said the building had no connection to any of the country's intelligence agencies.
He said no senior military or intelligence officials were among those being held.
