Insurgents¹ who attacked Pakistan's military HQ near Islamabad have taken 10 to 15 security personnel hostage, the army says.

巴基斯坦军队称，袭击伊斯兰堡附近军事总部的武装人员劫持了10到15名安全人员作为人质。

Military officials say the attackers are surrounded inside the compound in Rawalpindi, and efforts are being made to recover the hostages safely.

Sporadic² gunfire has been heard from the compound, reports from the scene say.

Six soldiers and four militants³ were killed in the initial assault.

The military at first said the situation was under control, but later added that up to five militants were holding the hostages inside a building within the compound.

Reports say senior officers were among the hostages and among those who died.

The attack comes as the Pakistani army prepares for a major operation against the Taliban.

"Eight to 10 terrorists were involved in this attack. Four of them have been killed while six of our security personnel were martyred（杀害，牺牲）," military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas told the private Geo TV station.

He said the building had been surrounded and officials were assessing the timing⁴ of a rescue operation.

"We are trying to move with the minimum loss of life," said Gen Abbas.

Another Pakistani official was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying: "It's a hostage situation. They're demanding the release of some of their fellows."

Area sealed off

Officials said the gunmen drove up to the army compound in a white van just before midday local time (0600 GMT) on Saturday.

They took up positions, fired on the compound and threw hand grenades（手榴弹）, security officials said.

Roads to the area were sealed off and helicopters hovered⁵ over（盘旋） the compound.

Eyewitness⁶ Khan Bahadur, a van driver, said there had been "fierce fighting" followed by a blast.

"Soldiers were running here and there," he said. "There was smoke everywhere. Then there was a break, and then firing again."

The military reported that the attack had been repelled⁷（击退） after a gun battle lasting⁸ around 45 minutes.

However, military officials later said that more militants were still at large and were now holding several hostages in the "security office building" inside the complex.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik said officials wanted to catch the gunmen alive so they could "give us more information".

"The Taliban are hired assassins. They are the enemies of Islam and Pakistan. All their actions are against the sovereignty of Pakistan," he told CNN.

The attack follows a series of bombings in north-western Pakistan. On Friday at least 50 people died in a blast in Peshawar.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool, in Islamabad, says the latest attack, on one of the most secure areas of the country in the middle of the day, shows a new level of audacity⁹（大胆，厚颜） from the militants.

Islamist militants have carried out a number of attacks against high-profile, high-security targets in recent years.

In March this year gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket（板球，蟋蟀） team in Lahore. Six policemen and a driver were killed, and several of the team were injured.

In the same month, dozens of people were killed when a police training centre on the outskirts¹⁰（郊区） of the city was occupied by gunmen.