Pakistan Storms Lal Masjid, 60 Killed

Eight security personnel were also killed and 15 injured in operation 'Silence' launched by the Pakistan army to clear the mosque of the radicals after talks between the government negogiator and firebrand leader cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi to end the week-long standoff failed.

Ghazi asked to surrender

Pakistani troops have located radical cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi and have given him an ultimatum to surrender.

Ghazi is holed up in the basement of the complex with women and children, army spokesman Waheed Arshad told state television.

"We are making repeated announcements telling Ghazi that if he surrenders nothing will happen to him," he said.

The Deputy Administrator of the mosque was found in the southern portion of the mosque complex, where his house is also situated.

Director General Inter Public Service Relations Maj Gen Waheed Arshad told mediapersons after the operation was launched around 0400 hrs that the security personnel had entered the mosque complex from three sides.

The militants were firing from the basements, he said, adding besides machine guns they were using grenades, rocket launchers and petrol bombs to offer stiff resistance.

Assuming that the operation might last another three to four hours, Maj Gen Arshad said 25 students have managed to escape the compound since the start of the operation and were rescued by the Rangers.

He said it was likely that some portions of the mosque were damaged in the firing as the militants were using the minarets as trenches.

The showdown on 3rd July between the government and radical clerics took an ugly turn when the government forces clashed with the militant students at the Masjid, triggering a fierce gun battle that killed several people and left many injured.

Pakistan SC rejects pleas seeking stay on 'Operation Silence

Turning down pleas seeking a stay on the offensive launched by the Army to flush the militants out of the Lal Masjid, Pakistan Supreme Court today said it cannot interfere in operational matters of the security forces.

The two-judge bench of the apex court, which on Monday took suo motto notice of the stand-off ordering authorities to provide guarantee for safety of those who surrendered, on Tuesday heard the government's version of events that led to its decision to storm the complex.

The bench comprising Justices Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi and Fakhir Muhammad Khokhar rejected pleas of several advocates asking for a stay on the 'Operation Silence'.

The judges said that Supreme Court cannot interfere in operational matters of the security forces and they cannot grant any stay on this.

Government officials explained the sequence of events leading to the storming of mosque, saying they had complied with the apex court's order to permit a delegation of Islamic clerics to negotiate with Deputy Administrator of the Lal Masjid Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who is holed up inside the complex and using women and children as human shields. -- Source: DDNEWS India