Pakistan mosque operation in final stage: Army
Thursday, 12 July 2007
ISLAMABAD, July 11 (AFP): An operation by Pakistani troops to flush out militants holed up in Islamabad's Red Mosque is in its "final stage" Wednesday, more than 24 hours after it began, the military said.
Chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said the soldiers were trying to clear a residential area belonging to rebel leader Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who died in crossfire on Tuesday night.
Waheed said three more militants were killed overnight, bringing the toll of rebel deaths to at least 53. Eight troops also died. He said a final total would not be available until the complex had been cleared.
"The operation is in its final stage," Arshad told a private television channel.
"Its aim was to clear the mosque complex of militants and to ensure the evacuation of women and children. The final stage is underway in which the residential complex of Ghazi and his associates was to be cleared," he said.
After the militants had been cleared from the mosque, troops would sweep the booby-trapped complex "to ensure that there is no grenade, mines or other such things which could harm the people coming to work there," he added.
He said there would likely be a media visit to the mosque compound later in the day.
Meanwhile: The firebrand cleric who was killed as he led militants in an uprising at Islamabad's
Red Mosque was to be buried Wednesday in his home village in central Pakistan, police said.
Graves are being dug for the burial of Abdul Rashid Ghazi, his mother and two unidentified others killed in the mosque assault at remote Sadwani in Punjab province, senior police officer Qayyum Nawaz Qaisarani told AFP.
"We have been informed that the bodies are being flown here but we don't know when will they arrive" in the village 270 kilometres (170 miles) southwest of Multan, he said.
"We will not prevent people from attending their funeral prayers."
The police officer said that "no special security arrangements have been made."
Students from two madrassas in the area founded by Ghazi's late father, Abdullah Aziz, were among those expected to attend. Each religious school has around 150 students.
Ghazi's uncle, Abdul Haq, who lives in the village, said that "my brother and my nephews served Islam."
"They used to send quilts to the poor people during winter and financially supported several families in our area," he told local reporters.
Chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said the soldiers were trying to clear a residential area belonging to rebel leader Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who died in crossfire on Tuesday night.
Waheed said three more militants were killed overnight, bringing the toll of rebel deaths to at least 53. Eight troops also died. He said a final total would not be available until the complex had been cleared.
"The operation is in its final stage," Arshad told a private television channel.
"Its aim was to clear the mosque complex of militants and to ensure the evacuation of women and children. The final stage is underway in which the residential complex of Ghazi and his associates was to be cleared," he said.
After the militants had been cleared from the mosque, troops would sweep the booby-trapped complex "to ensure that there is no grenade, mines or other such things which could harm the people coming to work there," he added.
He said there would likely be a media visit to the mosque compound later in the day.
Meanwhile: The firebrand cleric who was killed as he led militants in an uprising at Islamabad's
Red Mosque was to be buried Wednesday in his home village in central Pakistan, police said.
Graves are being dug for the burial of Abdul Rashid Ghazi, his mother and two unidentified others killed in the mosque assault at remote Sadwani in Punjab province, senior police officer Qayyum Nawaz Qaisarani told AFP.
"We have been informed that the bodies are being flown here but we don't know when will they arrive" in the village 270 kilometres (170 miles) southwest of Multan, he said.
"We will not prevent people from attending their funeral prayers."
The police officer said that "no special security arrangements have been made."
Students from two madrassas in the area founded by Ghazi's late father, Abdullah Aziz, were among those expected to attend. Each religious school has around 150 students.
Ghazi's uncle, Abdul Haq, who lives in the village, said that "my brother and my nephews served Islam."
"They used to send quilts to the poor people during winter and financially supported several families in our area," he told local reporters.