Shots were fired after Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf’s plane took off from a military base at Rawlpindi on Friday in what one official described as a failed assassination attempt. “It was an unsuccessful effort by miscreants to target the president’s plane,” a senior security official told AP. “They fled quickly, and our security agencies are still investigating.”

Security forces quickly surrounded a house in Rawalpindi, a garrison city south of the capital. Three other said two anti-aircraft guns and a light machine gun were found on the rooftop. The senior security official said Musharraf was aboard the plane at the time on his way to the Balochistan province, although he insisted that he was not within the range of the weapons.

Television footage from an overlooking building showed a large gun pointed skyward next to a satellite dish as security officials rushed around. It was unclear if the same gun had been fired.

Army spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad denied local news reports that the President’s plane was targeted by a rocket, but provided no further details. The house lies under the flight path of the main runway used by both the Chaklala Air Base and the adjoining Islamabad International Airport. Passenger jets thundered overhead as police and soldiers swarmed the area.

According to Pakistan TV, Musharraf flew from the air base on Friday and later safely landed in Turbat in Balochistan.

Officials said the owner of the house had been taken in for questioning and that they were looking for a couple who rented the property this week.