Gunmen dressed in Pakistani army uniforms launched an armed assault on the Pakistani Army Headquarters in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, at approximately 12 p.m. local time Oct. 10. The death toll from the initial stage of the assault stands at 10, four whom were attackers and six Pakistani soldiers, including a brigadier general and a lieutenant colonel. It appears at this time that the brigadier general and lieutenant colonel were entering the facility at the time of the attack. The latest reports indicate that two to four gunmen cordoned off in a security building just outside of the headquarters have released eight of their 15 hostages. A Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman has also reportedly contacted GEO TV in Pakistan to claim responsibility. This attack highlights some of the challenges the Pakistani army faces as it gears up for another offensive against TTP militants in South Waziristan.

This type of armed assault has become a popular tactic among Pakistani militants following the relative success of the Mumbai attacks in November 2008. The release of the eight hostages in Rawalpindi does not follow the tactics used in Mumbai when the militants executed their captives before Indian authorities raided their positions. The release of the hostages could be due to a termination of communication between the gunmen and their handlers by jamming cell phone signals in the area or simply a way of reducing the ratio of gunmen to hostages (especially important given that the hostages were trained military personnel). Had the gunmen wanted to reduce the number of hostages, they could of course simply have executed them; the decision to release them indicates the gunmen may have gotten cold feet. The decision to release the hostages will weigh heavily on the Pakistani military commanders’ decision of whether to raid the security building or to wait them out. That one or more of the gunmen may well be wearing a suicide device will play a role in this decision, too.

This armed assault on the Pakistani Army headquarters underscores the extent of militant penetration into the Pakistani military establishment, something that has long plagued not only the military but the country’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence. The use of military uniforms and vehicles with special license plates shows inside assistance, as does the incredible breach of security implicit in the attack. Even though the attack failed to penetrate the perimeter security of the headquarters compound, the symbolic weight of striking the center of security and power in Pakistan is tremendous, especially coming ahead the planned offensive in South Waziristan.

These types of attacks can continue to be expected ahead of the planned Pakistani military offensive in South Waziristan against TTP militants. This attack, like the Oct. 5 attack against the World Food Program office in Islamabad and the Oct. 9 Vehicle Born Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) attack against a market in Peshawar, is the TTP’s way of signaling it remains a force to be reckoned with. The TTP has recently experienced some significant setback in the forms of the death of its leader Baitullah Mehsud and the subsequent infighting in the group over his replacement. This string of attacks in the past week was designed to show that the TTP remains a cohesive force that still possess the capability to strike at the very core of the Pakistani state.

This article is published at Lebanonwire by agreement with www.stratfor.com, the world's leading private intelligence provider.

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