Rebel cleric dies in Red Mosque siege
Tuesday, 10 Jul 2007 20:43
The mosque is in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad
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Pakistan's army says it has killed a rebel Islamic cleric and 50 militants after storming the besieged Red Mosque in the country's capital Islamabad.
A spokesman said that Abdul Rashid Ghazi was discovered by troops after a gun battle that killed eight soldiers.
More than 50 women and children are also thought to have been rescued from the sprawling 70-room complex in the latest move by the Pakistan army.
Interior ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema told the Associated Press news agency: "[Abdul Rashid Ghazi] was spotted in the basement and asked to come out. He came out with four or five militants who kept on firing at security forces.
"The troops responded and in the crossfire he was killed.
"There are still certain areas to be cleared. The body is in the compound. The other militants were also killed in the fighting."
Earlier in the day, a dawn raid on the Las Masjid, or Red Mosque, claimed the lives of at least four soldiers, Pakistan's interior Minister Ahmed Aftab Khan Sherpao said.
Pakistan's security forces are bidding to end a week-long siege at the controversial mosque, which has been at the centre of an extremist campaign to try and impose strict Islamic law in Islamabad.
Commenting on the operation, military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad explained: "It is a final push to clear the place of armed militants."
The army has acknowledged that it is facing tough resistance from rebels in the basement, with militants reported to be using hand grenades, machine guns and other weapons to resist arrest.
Troops entered the compound and exchanged fire with militants after talks aimed at ending the siege collapsed.
Pakistan's government had earlier warned radical cleric Ghazi and his hardcore followers, some of whom are on a wanted list, that they will be killed if they do not surrender to security forces.
Troops have had the building surrounded since clashes with armed students broke out on July 3rd.
Tension between the mosque's followers and the authorities had been increasing prior to the start of the stand-off, with Islamic extremists accused of waging a six-month campaign to try and impose Taliban-style rule in Pakistan's capital.
Actions said to have been taken by members of the mosque include the kidnapping of policemen and others they say are involved in activities they consider to be immoral, such as prostitution.