Pakistan: Hostages freed at Army base

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Pakistani special forces freed 22 hostages Sunday who had been held by Taliban militants at the Army headquarters in Rawalpindi, a military spokesman said.

But some who had been held were reported killed, as were four of the hostage-takers, military officials told the BBC.

"Most of the hostages are out and the security forces are in control of the building," Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said.

A small group of heavily armed men attacked the headquarters near Islamabad on Saturday. Officials said six soldiers and four militants were killed in a firefight that began when the attackers, dressed in military uniforms and traveling in a Suzuki van, encountered a checkpoint.

A standoff continued for hours. Officials said four to five militants were believed to be holding 10 to 15 hostages.

The attack, the third by the Taliban in Pakistan in a week, came a day after 48 people died in a bombing of the public market in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

The audacious attack on the Army's power center may signal that the Taliban is planning to launch a major offensive in the tribal region of South Waziristan, analysts said. It came as the government prepared an offensive to flush out militants from mountain strongholds along the Afghanistan border.