10 killed in gunbattle at Pakistan army HQ

Heavily-armed unidentified gunmen on Saturday made an audacious bid to force their way into the Pakistan army's headquarters in

Rawalpindi, sparking a raging gunbattle which left all four attackers and some soldiers dead.

The brazen attempt by the gunmen shortly before noon was foiled as the army brought in commandos and helicopters to overpower the attackers, who drove up in a white van to the entrance of the general headquarters.

An intense shootout broke out as troops tried to stop the attackers from entering the complex, TV news channels reported.

"All four terrorists who were trying to enter (the general headquarters) have been killed," chief military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas told reporters, adding the situation is fully under control now.

Abbas said some soldiers were also killed in the gun battle with the terrorists, but did not give the figure.

"They (attackers) came out of the van and ran towards another check post, where the exchange of fire continued for some time. We are ascertaining how many security personnel were killed in the incident,"

The heavily-armed terrorists, who were in a white van, opened fire when they were challenged by soldiers at a check post near a cricket stadium outside the general headquarters at 11.30am, Abbas said.

The terrorists tried to gain entry to the fortified military facility by using a street that connects the Mall Road, one of Rawalpindi's main thoroughfares, to the general headquarters.