United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that despite the increase in acts of terrorism in Pakistan, there is no danger that the country’s nuclear weapons will fall into the wrong hands.

She was speaking in London on Sunday, one day after an attack by Taliban fighters on the headquarters of the Pakistani army in the city of Rawalpindi. Taliban militants disguised as soldiers drove to the compound and shot their way through a checkpoint. After a fierce gun battle the attackers seized a building in the headquarters and took more than 40 hostages.

Pakistani troops freed 39 of the hostages in a rescue mission mounted on Sunday. Four suspected Taliban insurgents, three hostages and two soldiers were killed in the operation. One insurgent, said to be the leader of the attack, was captured alive.

Photo of Hillary Clinton by SEIU International (flickr)