DAR AL ISLAM - PAKISTAN: GHAZI OF LAL MASJID IS DEAD

Leader of mosque is reportedly killed as Pakistan Army assault continues
By Salman Masood and Somini Sengupta

ISLAMABAD: One of the main leaders of the Lal Masjid mosque has been killed in fierce fighting with the Pakistani security forces who have been battling militants holed up inside the sprawling compound, an intelligence official said Tuesday.

Explosions and machine-gun fire rang in the heart of the capital almost 13 hours after fighting began early Tuesday. The attack on the mosque has provoked protests and calls for revenge around Pakistan, and the U.S. government urged Americans not to travel to certain regions of Pakistan.

The intelligence official, who requested anonymity, said the mosque leader, Abdur Rashid Ghazi, had been found dead. He was one of the two brothers who ran the mosque and religious school. The other brother, Mohammed Abdul Aziz, was arrested last week while trying to flee in a burqa.

A military spokesman said Tuesday that after 10 hours of fighting, 8 security forces and roughly 50 presumed militants were dead. Roughly two dozen children, who the army said were being held hostage, escaped.

Major General Waheed Arshad, a military spokesman, said 29 soldiers and special forces troops had been wounded in the attack on Lal Masjid, also known as the Red Mosque. He said 50 men and 27 women had been captured, including 13 who were wounded in the fighting. Among them were the wife and daughter of one of the leaders of the mosque.

The assault began around 4:30 a.m., just hours after talks broke down to end the eight-day siege. Throughout the day, explosions were followed by the rattle of small arms fire, and by early afternoon, heavy bursts of machine-gun fire echoed through the city.

Arshad said the militants' arsenal included rocket launchers, grenades, land mines and booby traps to foil soldiers trying to enter the compound. The militants, whom government officials said were led by radical Islamist groups, were using the minarets of the mosque to fire at the security forces.

"There is intense engagement," Arshad said at a midday briefing. "There is a lot of resistance. They are well-armed, well-trained terrorists."

Arshad said it was too early to tell how many of those who had been captured or wounded were part of the rebellion and how many had been kept inside against their will. Nor could military officials say how many remained inside. "It's too early to say who is who, who is a militant," he said.

The Lal Masjid, having enjoyed decades of government support, has in recent months become the epicenter of fierce anti-government religious extremism and a millstone around the neck of President Pervez Musharraf.

Early Tuesday morning, speaking to a private television station, Geo, Ghazi, the mosque's leader, assailed the army for betraying the cause of the "mujahedeen" and pledged to fight to the death. "Our army is being misused," he said. "It used to be an army of the mujahedeen." He declined to answer questions about how many civilians, including children, were inside.

[Several security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity since they were not authorized to speak to the media, said Ghazi was wounded by two bullets and gave no response when ordered to surrender. Commandos then fired another volley and found him dead, The Associated Press reported.]

...



Pertinent Links:

1) Leader of mosque is reportedly killed as Pakistan Army assault continues