Gunmen hold hostages in Pakistan army headquarters - military chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and ISI chief Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shujaa Pasha

[Domingo the Avenger]

The whereabouts of military chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and ISI
chief Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shujaa Pasha were not known.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091010/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan

Gunmen hold hostages in Pakistan army headquarters

By ASIF SHAHZAD, Associated Press Writer

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan � Militants held several security officers
hostage inside an intelligence wing of the army headquarters Saturday
after they and others 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.

An army statement said more than two assailants were holding several
officers hostage in the "security office building" inside the heavily
fortified complex close to the capital. The army uses that term to
refer to the headquarters of either the military intelligence or the
country's premier spy agency, the Inter Services Intelligence.

The whereabouts of military chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and ISI
chief Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shujaa Pasha were not known. Separate army
statements said Kayani attended meetings at the headquarters and at
the president's office in nearby Islamabad during the day.

The attack began shortly before noon when the gunmen, dressed in
camouflage military uniforms and wielding assault rifles and grenades,
drove in a white van up to the army compound and opened fire, army
spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas and a witness said.

"There was fierce firing, and then there was a blast," said Khan
Bahadur, a shuttle van driver who was standing outside the gate of the
compound. "Soldiers were running here and there," he said. "The firing
continued for about a half-hour. There was smoke everywhere. Then
there was a break, and then firing again."