GHQ Check-Post Attackers Killed - Hostages Rescued!

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Most probably R Malik trying to track down the parents of militants. And bring some famous mullah to end the standoff.

To his credit, in his interview on Geo news, he was very on point, eulogized the martyred guards and soldiers, pointed out they did exactly what they were expected to and rendered the ultimate sacrifice and urged everyone to realize that, and gave no quarter to the taliban.

To paraphrase him:

"Agar Wazirstan kay taliban nay surrender na kiya to un ka wohi hashar ho ga jo Swat kay Taliban ka hua hai"

Translation -"If the Wazirstan Taliban do not surrender then they will face the same fate as the Taliban of Swat".

I am no fan of his, but I could not have expected the tone, language and message to be much better than that used by him in this interview.

Lets give credit where it is due.

 

[Beskar]

Going by the 'hostage taking' in the Mumbai attacks and the fact that they were unable to take any high level personality hostage, I have doubts about whether the terrorists might actually 'negotiate'.

They might do so to extend the standoff for publicity reasons, but given they killed the hostages at the Israeli Center, why would they do differently here?

Of course I understand the SF's have to operate to minimize casualties, but I suspect that the terrorists are in this to die and kill, not negotiate.

From what we already know, these terrorists have made demands on two occasions. One where they asked for a "Safe Passage" from the army and the second where they've asked for the release of some of the captured terrorists. But these reports aren't clear at the moment and we just might have to wait and see what the ground reality is.

All in all, I believe the army's main concern right now are the hostages and not the terrorists because in order to avoid more bloodshed, they must first make sure that these terrorists don't end up killing more people than they already have. Otherwise, I'm sure the snipers could've easily taken out the terrorists using NVGs. But at this point, the army might not be planning to take any risky actions which may lead to further bloodshed.

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

why dont they inject a sleeping gas in their .. just do something ..

 

[sonicboom]

GHQ attack report published in Daily Jang, The News on Oct 5th

Updated at: 0500 PST, Sunday, October 11, 2009

RAWALPINDI: Proper measures could not be adopted to avoid the tragedy, despite Daily Jang and The News International had published the report of possible attack on GHQ, Rawalpindi on October 5th.

The report published in Daily Jang and The News International on October 5th informed that according to the Interior Department Punjab a source had revealed terrorists of Tehreek-e-Taliban, Pakistan were planning attack on GHQ in collaboration with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

The report further read the terrorists had planned to enter into the GHQ using fake army uniforms and vehicles.

“If they fail to enter as per the first plan, then as an alternative they will drive the vehicle to the allegedly broken wall of the GHQ and jumped down into the compound using a ladder.”

Afterward they might break into the central building and start gunfire resulting in massacre, the report added.

The report also revealed possible life threats to PM, Sharif brothers and other key personalities.

Meanwhile, another report published on September 30th warned a possible suicide blast in Lahore through an explosive-laden vehicle possibly targeting the army installations.

 

[SSG VIPER]

why dont they inject a sleeping gas in their .. just do something ..

Do u think it is so easy?They are not tht stupid and other thing is tht they must be alert and wachful.And it takes time for a gas to work and it can also endanger the life of the hostages / JUST PRAY FOR THEM MAY ALLAH PROTECT THEM AMEEN.

 

[MAB]

when i woke up this morning the news of this incident was the first thing my dad told me. i have been following this story since then. What i really hope happens is that the hostages are recovered with no other casualties

 

[HAIDER]

To his credit, in his interview on Geo news, he was very on point, eulogized the martyred guards and soldiers, pointed out they did exactly what they were expected to and rendered the ultimate sacrifice and urged everyone to realize that, and gave no quarter to the taliban.

To paraphrase him:

"Agar Wazirstan kay taliban nay surrender na kiya to un ka wohi hashar ho ga jo Swat kay Taliban ka hua hai"

Translation -"If the Wazirstan Taliban do not surrender then they will face the same fate as the Taliban of Swat".

I am no fan of his, but I could not have expected the tone, language and message to be much better than that used by him in this interview.

Lets give credit where it is due.

Saw him on GEO...never seen him so angry and straight .....but govt should do something for 18 indian consulate along Pak border.

 

[iPhone]

another thing the army has to take into consideration is that these militants might be wearing suicide vests inside, waiting for the commandos to move in. They can't put up a straight fight so they could probably take the suicide way out. Let's hope it works out without much bloodshed.

 

[sonicboom]

Not to act as an expert, but the safest way, in my opinion, for the army is to use sensors to locate the terrorists and the hostages and then use some kind of harmless gas that can disable people inside the building without harming anyone.

 

[PakShaheen79]

May be army is doing electronic surveillance of these scums as they might trying to connect some one through cell or phones to take orders.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Bold as brass​

Sunday, October 11, 2009
The battle now laps at the edge of the military establishment and as these words are typed the hunt is on inside Rawalpindi GHQ for as many as five militants and their hostages, thought to be hiding somewhere in unfinished buildings near the central stores depot. Their colleagues, at least four of them, are dead, as are at least six army personnel including a brigadier and a lieutenant-colonel. The rest are believed to be guards who stopped the militants at the second line of barriers to the facility. The attack started shortly before noon when a small white van carrying several men allegedly in army or paramilitary uniform disgorged its deadly contents. The terrorists had evaded whatever security checks were around in the city, were heavily armed, well-trained and ready for a protracted fight. A group affiliated with the TTP (which claimed the WFP attack a few days ago) has claimed responsibility. Rawalpindi is paralysed, a handful of determined men have penetrated to the very nerve centre of the Pakistan Army's war on the people who are now at its own gates, and the Interior Minister Rehman Malik is on television talking of having broken the back of the militant insurgency.

There is no point in re-running the 'security lapse' argument and little point either in talking of an 'imminent' operation in Waziristan. Even if the Waziristan operation was launched tomorrow, it would be weeks or months before it reached a resolution, and the effects of doing so are quite possibly that we would see an increase, rather than a decrease, in attacks on the civilian population. As for the 'security lapse' debate - well there has never been a lack of lapses and there is no way in which even the most vigilant of intelligence agencies or the most sharp-eyed of soldiers manning check posts are going to hermetically seal a city like Rawalpindi.

Rawalpindi and every other city in Pakistan are as porous as sponges, and no less opaque. There are thousands of entry and exit points beyond the main roads, millions of places to hide in a metropolis as vast as our teeming cities and equally millions willing to give shelter and logistical support to the terrorists right across the country. The success of the terrorist is that he has and always has had the support of a significant minority within the wider population.

Against such a backdrop it is bordering on the miraculous that the army and security services are holding the line as they are. This is a long, grim bloody war that we fight every day and realistically, despite the political rhetoric of victory here and there, we are far from winning it.
Bold as brass

 

[Beskar]

UPDATE:

Two hand-grenade explosions were heard around 6am, followed by gunfire.

 

[A1Kaid]

I have been reading material from a variety of sources. Some are suggesting this is not a "security failure" and the Pakistani Army successfully halted the attackers at the 'outermost' checkpoint...


Well one can argue when you have a hostage situation at your Army HQ, and 15 or so armed and obviously well trained attackers pull up to your Army HQ perimeter in a white Suzuki van and hold at least 15 military (and perhaps civilian) personnel hostage at your Army HQ, is bit of a security failure or "chink in the amour".


If you don't consider this a security failure, surely you can consider this an intelligence failure. The fact our intelligence apparently was not aware of this planned attack which obviously required several weeks and perhaps months of training and preparation did not manage to foil this orchestrated plot, hence preventing this situation. One of the main purposes of having an advance intelligence agency is exactly that to protect the homeland from enemies both foreign and domestic and to prevent such attacks, as the intelligence agency serves as the eyes and ears and covert weapon of the Nation.


In this WoT, Pakistan must learn to be pro-active not always reactive, responding to a terrorist attack or act of war after the attack is made and situation arises is not always a good thing, no matter how successful the response may be.


Prevention is the true success!

 

[SSG VIPER]

dude they know where these rats are holed in.

 

[pakdefender]

On a side note , we should not brush aside the possibility of involvment of US security firms being involved in setting up this attack. The US was recetly humiliated in Afghanistan when one of its bases in Kunar province got attacked and they had heavy losses there. Anytime they take losses in Afghanistan they blame Pakistan for it and I would not be one bit surprised if this attacke was planned and funnded by some undercover US security agency.