Islamabad on alert, rockets recovered near VVIP helipad

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's capital was on high alert after two Russian-made missiles were found near a helipad in a high-security zone here this week.

Security officials combing the woods around a VVIP helipad near the Sports Complex found two abandoned bags, one of them containing two live missiles.

The helipad was scheduled to be used on Thursday by an eminent dignitary whose movement was reportedly cancelled, Dawn reported on Sunday.

Within minutes of the recovery of the bags, intelligence officials, bomb disposal experts from the army and top police officers reached the site and seized the weapons.

The two missiles nearly 3-1/2 feet long were Russian-made. The contents of the other bag were not known but it was suspected it contained "launchers". The security personnel combed the place throughout on Friday.

This was the fourth incident of recovery of rockets or missiles in the high security zones of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi since Ayub Park explosion near President General Pervez Musharraf's camp office and recovery of two live rockets here in October this year.

The recovery of rockets attached to mobile phones lead to the police busting a group of militants which included some retired military personnel who confessed that they wanted to target Musharraf.

A set of live rockets were also recovered from the vicinity of the ISI headquarters two months ago.