Abdul RashidIslamabad, July 10 (PTI): Radical cleric, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who headed militants inside the pro-Taliban 'Lal Masjid' in a tense week-long stand-off, was today killed along with 88 of his associates when Pakistan troops stormed the premises to flush out heavily-armed hardliners holding a large number of women and children as hostages. Twelve commandos were also killed during the 'Operation Silence', launched at 04:00 hrs after talks with radicals to resolve the stand-off peacefully failed. At least 88 militants, apart from Ghazi, were killed in the operation, Dawn News TV quoted defence officials as saying. Forty-three-year-old Ghazi, the younger brother of the captured head of the Lal Masjid Maulana Abdul Aziz, was killed by security forces in the basement after he refused to surrender, Interior Ministry spokesman, Brig. Iqbal Cheema, told the media here, nearly 16 hours after the operation was launched. There were reports that Ghazi was holding women and children as human shields, some of whom were said to have been killed. THE HINDU (PTI input)