http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/12/200912413132653913.html
Friday, December 04, 2009
20:21 Mecca time, 17:21 GMT
Hunt underway for Pakistan gunmen
Witnesses said the gunmen threw three grenades inside the
mosque shortly after Friday prayer [EPA]
Pakistani authorities have launched a massive manhunt across the garrison
city of Rawalpindi for gunmen involved in a deadly attack on a mosque near the
country's army headquarters.
At least 37 people, including 17 children, were killed in the attack
when several gunmen stormed the mosque, opening fire shortly after Friday
prayers.
Police and witnesses said seven or eight gunmen were armed with assault
rifles and hand grenades when they entered the mosque.
"They threw three grenades inside the mosque, one was thrown on the
ladies' side, and two grenades were thrown inside the [men's section of the]
mosque," one witness told Al Jazeera.
"I could only hear the shouting of the people."
'Significant' breach
Al Jazeera's Imran Khan, reporting from the scene, said four armed men
were killed on the scene, but four others had managed to escape.
He said the military had secured the area and that at least one
helicopter was being used to search for the attackers.
"The city itself has been opened up. The streets surrounding the mosque,
however, are still under heavy security. The army have mounted a very large
presence here."
In depth
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There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but our correspondent
said the attack was significant because it may have caused the deaths of some
"very senior military officers".
"Whoever was responsible for this attack will be saying that this is a
coup for them because in previous attacks on security installations what
normally happens is its low-level officers that form the brunt of [the
attack]," he said.
"We are hearing two two-star generals have been killed in [Friday's]
attack, as well as a brigadier and a major-general. Those are unconfirmed at
the moment, but if that's true, this is the higher echelon of the military.
"The big question is how they were able to get inside with machine guns
and .... penetrate such high security."
The attack appeared to be the latest in a series to hit Pakistan in
recent months as the military presses ahead with an offensive against al-Qaeda
and Taliban fighters in the country's northwest.
'Reaction to offensive'
Major-general Athar Abbas, a spokesman for the Pakistani military,
confirmed that six high-ranking officers were among the dead and said
authorities have yet to establish how the security breach occurred.
But he said it was a case of Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters reacting to
the army offensive against them.
"We have yet to establish who the attackers are, but apparently on the
face of it they belong to the same organisation against whom the army is
operating in the area of South Waziristan," he said, referring to the Pakistani
Taliban.
"The military has swept the area - their strongholds and hideouts - and
[the fighters] are on the run.
"But they have their agents in the cities and the towns, so ... they will
conduct these acts. But since their bases have been destroyed they have been
disconnected."
Two of the biggest recent attacks in the country have taken place in
Rawalpindi, including a suicide bombing attack that killed 35 people on
November 2.
A raid on the army headquarters on October 10 led to a day-long standoff
that left 23 people dead, including nine attackers.
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