Pakistani forces stormed a mosque compound in the capital on Tuesday, killing at least 40 militants who were believed to be holed up with hundreds of women and children.
With more than two-thirds of the complex cleared, commandos had yet to encounter any of the women and children as they fought their way to the basement of the religious school, or madrasa, where the militants mounted a last stand.
Three soldiers were killed and many more people wounded, according to military spokesperson Major-General Waheed Arshad, while 50 militants were arrested.
But he said these were initial casualty reports and the assault to end a week long stand-off at Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque was still in progress five hours after it began.
The hundreds of women and children believed to be in the compound were in areas security forces had yet to clear, he said.
”They have yet to be encountered,” he said.
”Progress is very slow … The area is heavily mined and we’re facing stiff resistance,” a security official told Reuters during the fighting.
There are fears the militants may resort to suicide bombs. Officials said on Monday that suicide vests had been distributed among the defenders.
The military spokesperson said he had no information about the fate of rebel cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi, but according to a senior security official, Ghazi had been captured.
The militants put up strong resistance, using rockets and grenades as well as automatic weapons, and soldiers came under fire from the minarets as they overran the mosque at the beginning of the assault, allowing 20 children to escape.
After clearing the mosque, commandos, backed by paramilitary troops, swept resistance from the rooftop of the madrasa and worked they way down through the two-storey building.
Explosions and sustained gunfire erupted immediately after talks to end a week-long standoff broke down.
Thick smoke shrouded the compound that has been surrounded by troops since clashes with armed students broke out on July 3.
‘Allah have mercy on us’
Beyond the razor wire barriers several hundred metres away, about a dozen anxious parents waited, too upset to speak.
Reporters have been kept back from the compound and many residents of the neighbourhood — under curfew for the past week — have moved out.
”Children are very scared. They are not used to such explosions. May Allah have mercy on us,” said Zamin Hussain who lives near the complex.
Before the assault began, at least 21 people were killed in the week-long stand-off that followed months of mounting tension between the mosque’s hardline clerics and the government.
The government says many of the 200 to 500 students inside had been forced to stay. About 1,200 students left the mosque early on in the siege but the numbers leaving later slowed.
Earlier talks failed
The Lal Masjid has been a centre of militancy for years, known for its support for Afghanistan’s Taliban and opposition to President Pervez Musharraf’s backing for the United States.
Earlier on Tuesday, government negotiators announced that talks to end the stand-off had failed.
The government has been demanding radical cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi and his 50 or 60 hardcore of fighters, who authorities say include wanted militants, surrender unconditionally or die.
Ghazi refused, saying he would prefer martyrdom. He said he and the followers of his Taliban-style movement hoped their deaths would spark an Islamic revolution.
The action against the mosque has raised fears of a militant backlash. A wanted Pakistani militant linked to al-Qaeda and based in the volatile north-west vowed revenge on Monday if the mosque were assaulted. – Reuters