ISLAMABAD, Oct 12 The army claimed on Monday that the ghastly attack on the General Headquarters had been planned in South Waziristan.

Military spokesman Maj-Gen Athar Abbas told journalists that a communication intercepted by security agencies had found Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan commander Waliur Rahman asking his men to pray for the success of the operation after he had been informed by the attackers that the activity at the GHQ was under way.

Maj-Gen Abbas said that five of the eight terrorists killed in the operation codenamed 'Nasr-o-Minallah' were from South Waziristan and the rest from different parts of Punjab.

He said the objective of the terrorists was to take senior military officers hostage. He confirmed that there was an intelligence report that terrorists in military uniform might attack the GHQ, but insisted it was not a security lapse.

He said the GHQ was in the midst of a thickly-populated civilian area and the first picket was only 100 metres away from the main Mall Road. He said it was not possible to block the road for traffic.

The spokesman pointed out that about half of the terrorists had been shot down at the first picket and the others who rushed to the security building had been restricted to a certain area, with agile commandos immediately taking positions to guard their movement.

He said the immediate concern was that a terrorist wearing a suicide jacket connected with mine and improvised explosive devices was sitting in the centre of a small room with 22 hostages. The commandos decided to first go for the centre of gravity and eventually succeeded in targeting him without giving him time to pull the button to blow himself up, he added. Maj-Gen Abbas said three of the five commandos, who were injured after ringleader Aqeel alias Dr Usman set ablaze explosives, succumbed to their injuries on Sunday night, taking the toll of personnel to five.

He said the attackers had a long list of demands and wanted the release of over 100 of their men, including some high profile terrorists currently under the custody of security agencies.

He replied in the affirmative when asked if they were also demanding the trial of former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf and vacation of country's air bases given to the United States after 9/11.

The spokesman said the success of the operation could be gauged from the fact that 95 per cent of the hostages had been freed in a record time, eight terrorists killed and the sole survivor captured.

He admitted that there were also lessons learnt from the experience and said that security in and around military establishments would be further improved.

In reply to a question about the plan to shift the GHQ to Islamabad, he said it had been postponed because of financial constraints, but not cancelled.

He said that ringleader Dr Usman who suffered head injuries was still unconscious and was being operated upon. “He is not in a position to be interrogated,” he told a questioner.

Maj-Gen Abbas refrained from giving a timeframe for a full-scale military operation in South Waziristan, but said that troops had the ability to move and take control of the area.

Answering a question, he said there was a formal chain of command for the foolproof nuclear system, adding that the army chief had a role in that command.

He said that a lot of hype was being created about terrorists in southern Punjab. There were some terrorists in the area, but it was an entirely different situation there, he said. “It (southern Punjab) is a settled and developed area having huge presence of security forces of all tiers, and it is not possible for terrorists to have safe havens there.”

He said that new TTP chief Hakeemullah Mehsud was apparently alive if the recently surfaced video showing him along with his aides was genuine.