The operation was launched early in the morning
Musarraf moves on mosque ping.
bttt
Wow, I thought they should have done this days ago.
Good.
And so it begins..
DUH ABOUT TIME
Pakistan mosque talks fail
By ZARAR KHAN
The Associated Press
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Gunfire and explosions shook Islamabad’s besieged Red Mosque Tuesday morning, minutes after government negotiators emerged empty handed from talks with militants accused of holding some 150 hostages inside.
At least 24 people have died since fighting erupted a week ago between security forces and supporters of hardline clerics who have tried to impose Taliban-style rule in the capital.
After a botched commando raid on the high-walled compound at the weekend, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Monday assigned ex-premier Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to try and negotiate a peaceful end to the standoff.
But Hussain and a delegation of Islamic clerics returned crestfallen from the mosque after about nine hours of talks with rebel leader Abdul Rashid Ghazi via loudspeakers and cell phones.
“We offered him a lot, but he wasn’t ready to come on our terms and finalize the modalities,” Hussain told reporters waiting at the edge of the army cordon shortly before dawn.
Hussain said he was still “hopeful” that talks could resume and prove fruitful.
However, several loud explosions boomed over the city just as the vexed looking delegates were getting into their cars and sporadic shooting was also heard.
Security forces have pushed reporters back several hundred yards from the scene.
This is a breaking news update. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Islamic scholars and a former prime minister started negotiating through cell phones and loudspeakers with militants holding a mosque in Pakistan’s capital Monday, hoping to end the standoff and protect women and children inside.
CONTINUED
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22048540-2,00.html
Pakistan troops storm besieged Red Mosque
PAKISTANI troops have launched a massive operation against a cleric and his armed men in a besieged Islamabad mosque after negotiations failed.
“The troops are now inside the mosque, they are at the roof top,” top military spokesman Major General Arshad Waheed said.
“It is a final push to clear the place of armed militants,” he said, adding that the militants were putting up stiff resistance.
Huge blasts rocked the Red Mosque compound and the sound of heavy gunfire could be heard.
“The troops have entered from three sides. The militants are firing at them. Our effort is to get hold of them as soon as possible and save the lives of unarmed people inside,” Gen Waheed said.
“Our effort is to finish the operation as quickly as possible with minimum loss of life.”
Ministers have accused cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi and his followers of holding women and children in the Red Mosque as human shields.
Musarraf kills 150 innocent people or something similar.
Hmmm, a mosque being used as an armory, military training and recruiting center and as a fortress. What a surprise.
By Julian Kossoff and agencies
The Telegraph(UK)
Last Updated: 2:17am BST 10/07/2007
Pakistani security forces launched an all-out assault to clear militants from a mosque compound in the capital, Islamabad, after talks to end a week-long standoff broke down, the military said.
"We launched an operation at 4 a.m. (2300 GMT) to clear the madrasa of militants," said military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad, referring to a religious school in the mosque compound.
A short while later he said troops had entered the compound of the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, and were coming under fire from the militants inside.
As gunfire and explosions were heard 20 children escaped from the compound.
The clash between the government and militant students has lasted for seven days in the heart of Islamabad. The violence at the Red Mosque has claimed at least 21 lives.
Earlier, religious scholars and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the former premier, gathered outside to plead with the Islamist militants to send out the dead and wounded along with women and children, a day after authorities gave "a final warning" to surrender.
President Pervez Musharraf's government said that children were either coerced or persuaded to stay behind to act as human shields for the fighters, some belonging to militant groups linked to al-Qa'eda.
Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the Lal Masjid cleric, and his fighters have scorned warnings to surrender or die. Ghazi said he and his followers hoped their deaths would spark an Islamic revolution.
Government and military officials say there are 50 to 60 militants leading the fighting, but most of the others - thought to number around 150 - are women and children.
The Lal Masjid has been a centre of militancy for years, known for its support for Afghanistan's Taliban and opposition to Musharraf's backing for the United States.
Photos?
Here is the starter post:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1862852/posts
Here is a live stream of the fighting (Pashto):
http://www.jumptv.com/en/channel/aajtv/
Molana Gazi on Telephone on TV.... saying there are only 14 kalashankoves.. and 25 people with him.... Its Live.. and we can hear live gun fire behind.. He is standing next to window... his mother body is lying infront of him. There is Ansoo gass he is saying... He is saying.. i want to tell Pskiatanis.. i will not bow infront of injustice and force, and i wanted every thing to be transparents... but giovernment was not listenning to thm. so before he diies he want to set the record stratight
Praise the lord and pass the ammunition.
He gave them a chance. But they are lunatics anyway. They should be exterminated like a plague of diseased rats.
3 years after his boys dragged charred American bodies through the streets, I am still waiting for Bush to order us into Al Sadr’s mosque and kill him.
Great news to go along with the successes of the surge in Iraq.