Pakistan troops storm Islamabad mosque: military

afp ^ | 09/07/2007 | afp

[mdittmar]

Pakistani troops early Tuesday launched a massive operation against a cleric and his armed men in a besieged Islamabad mosque after negotiations failed, a top military official told AFP.

"The troops are now inside the mosque, they are at the roof top," top military spokesman Major General Arshad Waheed told AFP.

"It is a final push to clear the place of armed militants," he said, adding that the militants were putting up stiff resistance.

The talks between the Pakistani government and a cleric holed up with armed men at the mosque failed early Tuesday after he refused to release women and children allegedly held hostage, an official said.

Top government negotiator Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain announced the failure after 11 hours of talks, which was followed immediately by heavy firing and two massive blasts.

"After 11 hours of negotiations we are deeply disappointed that the talks did not succeed," he told a news conference near the Red Mosque.

[gandalftb]

more than 75 rooms in the basement, hostages and militants divided between the rooms, fighting in every room

[gandalftb]

PA spokesman: no nerve gas has been used

[gandalftb]

PA spokesman: I cannot discuss the high value targets.

[gandalftb]

Bunkers were built in the backyard of the children’s library building.

[AmericanInTokyo]

LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL!

**Pakistan Stocks Rise After Troops Storm Red Mosque (Update1)

By Farhan Sharif and Khalid Qayum July 10 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan's stocks rose to a record after troops stormed the Red Mosque in Islamabad today to clear the building of rebels and end a weeklong siege, reinforcing investor confidence. At least 40 militants were killed while three members of the security forces died, army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told a news conference broadcast live on television. ``The operation is still progressing,'' he said. The benchmark Karachi Stock Exchange 10 index rose 0.5 percent to 14,094.70 at 10:41 a.m. local time, led by Oil & Gas Development Co. Ltd., the biggest fuels explorer, and Arif Habib Securities Ltd. The market has risen 2.1 percent to a record in the past week, during the siege that started on July 3. Overseas investors have backed Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's management of the incident. **

[bluefish]

wrong thread.. I just love the one-issue folks who can find a way to insert their pet issue into every single thing...

[BullDog108]

No kidding! I was afraid some screwball would mention immigration.....

[gandalftb]

About 25 women have been brought out.

[ArmstedFragg]

Can you give us an indication of how big this complex is?

[bluefish]

Heh heh.. At DU, in threads primarily focused on worshipping Castro, they probably have to deal with some guy that jumps in to spew crap about carbon footprints LOL..

[gandalftb]

About two city blocks side by side, the north side is a very large mosque and boys madrassa, the south side is a girls school, library, servant quarters, food service, lunch rooms, etc.

Most buildings are 4-5 stories with at least one or two levels below grade.

[DreamsofPolycarp]

This will be bad for Musharraf. Pro western "moderate" muslim leaders are doomed in today's environment of islamofascism. I wonder how he has survived this long.

I look for massive riots, or soldiers firing on civilians, or both, by the end of next week in Pakistan.

[AdmSmith]

I’m not sure about that. If there are a lot of foreigners (=Arabs etc.) in the Mosque everything can be blamed on them.

[ArmstedFragg]

Given a determined resistance, that’s easily a full day’s work.

[gandalftb]

There has already been a large demonstration in Bajaur, everyone pledging jihad, martydom, etc.

This could start the civil war, or if the Paki's get mad about lots of women and girls killed as shields, the Taliban could be finished.

The Paki military is solidly behind this attack.

If Mushy stays good at ducking an occaisional missile or two the government might weather it well.

[gandalftb]

It’s late, everything is quiet, an odd silence regarding the “high value” targets. I’m checking out, I will update this thread in about 7 hours. Let’s hope for really good news in the morning.

[DreamsofPolycarp]

I hope the Muslims love their children too.

Reminds me of that famous quote by Golda Meier that there would never be peace between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs until the Arabs learned to love their own children more than they hate the Jews.

[thelastvirgil]

What’s the big deal? Flood the basements.

[topher]

Hostage children in the basements.

I don't think there are any Janet Reno's in Pakistan (well, at least water may not be as painful as burning children alive as was done by Janet in Waco... But then what do I know about the pain of death...)

[topher]

AP has an article (via Yahoo):

Pakistani troops seize Red Mosque -- http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070710/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_radical_mosque

Article is by By ZARAR KHAN, Associated Press Writer...

At one point he describes the injuries to the mother of the extremist cleric:

Ghazi told Geo TV that his mother had been wounded by gunshot. There was no immedidate official confirmation of his claim but one of Ghazi's aides, Abdul Rahman, later said she had died.

"The government is using full force. This is naked aggression," he said. "My martyrdom is certain now."

Of course, there is no mention that she was used as a human shield, as you have relayed to us...

The account that you gave and the one being reported by the AP seem almost to be day and night... Those trying to free innocent children are the bad guys and those using these children as human shields are the good guys -- according to the AP...