Operation Janbaz

Operation Janbaz
Part of the War in North-West Pakistan
Date 10–11 October 2009 Location Rawalpindi, Punjab Province, Pakistan Result Pakistani victory Taliban commander captured Pakistani hostages were rescued
Belligerents
Pakistan Army	Tehrik-i-Taliban,LeJ
Commanders and leaders
BGen Anwar-ul-Haq Ramday  † Lt.Col Waseem Amir  †	Mohammed Aqeel  (POW)
Units involved
13th Regular Army Regiment SSG Division Army Special Forces	Unknown
Strength
Unknown (Possibly 50–100)	10 TTP militants
Casualties and losses
12 killed	9 killed 1 captured
2 civilian hostages killed

Pakistani victory

The Pakistan Army General Headquarters attack (Codename: Operation Janbaz; Urdu: فوجی آپریشن جانباز‎), was a hostage-rescue mission carried by SSG Division during which, on 10 October 2009, when 10 gunmen in military uniform opened fire on the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan. The attack killed nine soldiers, nine militants and two civilians and was a major escalation in Pakistan's domestic insurgency. One militant was wounded and captured by security forces. Soon after the attack, the militant infiltrated the security buildings where 22 civilian and military officials were held hostage by the militants. The Pakistan Army immediately launched a hostage rescue operation led by the SSG Division, Army Special Forces and the 13th Regular Regiment.

The Pakistan Army and Pakistani officials have speculated that the attack could have been in retaliation for a series of planned operations in South Waziristan. A report published in The News International on 5 October, quoting Interior Department Punjab, had forewarned that militants wearing army uniforms would carry out an attack on GHQ. "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". The Daily Jang also reported on a possible threat.

The attack began when 10 militants, wearing camouflaged army uniforms and armed with "sophisticated weapons", attacked a checkpoint at the army base. They arrived in a white van and attacked the compound with guns and hand grenades; at least three explosions were heard during the assault. During the attack, five militants and six soldiers were killed. The army dead included a brigadier and a lieutenant colonel. The attackers then took 42 hostages, said to include civilians and senior military personnel, to a location near the headquarters.

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