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Pak army HQ attack exposes extremist threat

Sunday, October 11, 2009 LONDON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the militant attack on Pakistan's army headquarters Saturday served to underline the extremist threat to the Islamabad government.Clinton, who arrived in London, late Saturday as part of her five-day European tour, said the measures being taken to root out extremists in Pakistan were "very important".Militants were holding up to 15 people hostage after a bid to storm the army headquarters in the garrison town of Rawalpindi left six soldiers and four attackers dead, Pakistani officials said.Clinton told reporters she had been briefed about the attack.She said she wanted to "point out this shows the continuing threats to the Pakistani government and the very important steps that the civilian leadership, along with the military, are taking to root out the extremists and prevent violence and direct assaults on the sovereignty of the state."Up to 10 suspected Taliban gunmen in military uniform armed with automatic weapons and grenades drove up to the compound and shot their way through one check post.

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