Cleric among 59 killed as Pak troops storm mosque
Wednesday, 11 July 2007
ISLAMABAD: A radical cleric whose besieged mosque sought to impose strict Islamic morality on the Pakistani capital was killed Tuesday after refusing to respond to troops who demanded his surrender, officials said, reports AP
About 50 militants and eight soldiers died when the military stormed the sprawling Red Mosque compound.
Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the public face of the pro-Taliban mosque that challenged the government's writ in Islamabad, had vowed to die rather than give himself up.
An army official said Ghazi had received bullet wounds and when he was told to surrender, he gave no reply. Commandos then fired another volley of bullets and found Ghazi dead, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media.
Javed Iqbal Cheema, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, confirmed Ghazi's death and said the cleric's body was still lying in the compound, and that "battle hardened" militants were defending themselves.
Officials, who earlier said the military held back on an all-out assault on Ghazi because there were children being held in the basement as hostages, offered no details on who was with him when he died.
"The government is using full force. This is naked aggression," Ghazi said hours before his death. "My martyrdom is certain now."
About 50 militants and eight soldiers died when the military stormed the sprawling Red Mosque compound.
Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the public face of the pro-Taliban mosque that challenged the government's writ in Islamabad, had vowed to die rather than give himself up.
An army official said Ghazi had received bullet wounds and when he was told to surrender, he gave no reply. Commandos then fired another volley of bullets and found Ghazi dead, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media.
Javed Iqbal Cheema, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, confirmed Ghazi's death and said the cleric's body was still lying in the compound, and that "battle hardened" militants were defending themselves.
Officials, who earlier said the military held back on an all-out assault on Ghazi because there were children being held in the basement as hostages, offered no details on who was with him when he died.
"The government is using full force. This is naked aggression," Ghazi said hours before his death. "My martyrdom is certain now."