Pakistan commandos rescue 39 hostages, three killed

Well that leaves the Taliban a little less to barter with !
What is taking Pakistan so long to finish off the Taliban ?
The longer they put it off the stronger and more hidden the Taliban become !
Maybe they are giving them the chance to surrender , Or escape .

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani commandos stormed an office building on Sunday and rescued 39 people taken hostage by suspected Taliban militants after a brazen attack on the army's headquarters.

Saturday's attack on the tightly guarded army headquarters in the city of Rawalpindi, next door to the capital, Islamabad, came as the military prepared an offensive against the militants in their stronghold of South Waziristan on the Afghan border.

The strike at the heart of the powerful military called into question government assertions the militants were virtually crippled by recent setbacks. But officials said it only underlined the need to finish them off.

"It has been decided, the civilian leadership has decided ... the operation is imminent," Interior Minister Rehman Malik told Reuters in an interview in Singapore.

Three hostages, two commandos and four of the gunmen were killed in the pre-dawn rescue operation, said army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas. One wounded gunman was captured and Abbas said he was the ringleader.

"Now there is no terrorist left there. The operation is over," Abbas told Reuters.

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