Posted on 07/09/2007 5:26:04 PM PDT by 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.
Well I am the biggest screwball of all, I guess. You see, I wanted to know how God reacted to child sacrifice in the Old Testament and did an extensive search. Found out when Israel sacrificed their kids, God didn’t forgive them and they were INVADED by the BABYLONIANS. So, the invasion has started, and all that needs to be done is for the illegal immigrants to be converted to Islam. There are enough Muslims in Europe and Africa and China, but here, they have to be converted. It is possible, God is angry enough, but He is also patient, waiting for us to overturn Roe amongst other things. I knew it wasn’t an obvious reply to the thread, but its always in the back of my mind. Sorry.
Latest!-10th July 11:00 PM
Ghazi Abdur Rasheed’s body has been taken out of the Jamia Hafsa Complex. Meanwhile three loud explosions have been heard from Lal Masjid over here. Operation still going on. Bodies being sent to I-8 morge. Reports of taking media to have a round of Lal masjid complex tomorrow. Musharraf will address the nation tomorrow evening.
Latest!-10th July 08:45 PM
Islamabad is under red alert and a sensitive security zone right now. Security forces are on a look out for mysterious figures, and spot checking being done on any suspicous people. Military forces are securing different sectors for fear of any possible repurcussion and backlash of this event as riots have already broken out in other parts of the country including Swat and Kohistan area. Meanwhile operation still going on in Lal Masjid against hand full of militants who are showing resistance. Once the area has been cleared and sanatized, cleaning forces would move in to secure the area. Reports confirm cousins of Ghazi’ have also been killed in the operation. Ghazi’s aunts and sisters have requested the government official to hand over ghazi’s body to the relatives for proper burial. Security personals are doing spot checks for any suspicious people. Residents of G-6,-G-7,-Bluearea,F-6,F-7 and Diplomatic enclave are advised to take appropriate caution while travelling.
Latest!-10th July 06:45 PM
Ghazi Abdur Rasheed, Deputy Cleric Of Lal Masjid Killed in Crossfire. According to the latest information, Abdur Rasheed Ghazi, who was leading the militant resistance from within the Lal Masjid after the capture of his brother Abdul Aziz, has been killed in cross fire. He was asked to surrender out of his bunker after being hit in the leg, but he could not come out after 4 hours of siege of his bunker. Later he was killed in exchange of fire. His body is still inside the facility and has not been recovered yet. Security forces are continuing operations in other part of the area and trying to free any additional hostages.
Benazir’s resilient, no?
Shit is still to hit the fan.
Another worthless goon bites the dust.
There were listening devices all the compund and much phone evesdropping.
Mushy came to realize that the mujahids were in control not Ghazi and that the protracted talks were a stall to allow more defensive measures and get the high value targets out.
Ghazi was constantly presenting new demands. Mushy stepped in a few minutes after the last demands by Ghazi and instead of obeying a two hour time out to consider the demands, Mushy ordered an immediate surprise attack to catch them off guard and that largely worked.
There were foreign mujahids and high value Afghan targets when the attack began. They have disappeared. there was talk of an exit tunnel that was found. More importantly a group of young boys came running out of the basement kitchens as commandos moved in. They said that they had been held as shields but that all of the mujahids suddenly disappeared at the appearance of the commandos. NOt to be seen again in the fight.
As usual, Tora Bora, Spin Boldak, etc. these mujahids when given the time to plan and manuever always create a back door. Otherwise UBL and other leadership are too careful to get into potential dead end traps.
Aziz was captured and as I said he was in disguise to escape the mujahids not the PA. The PA offered him a deal of house arrest, etc. if he will talk. He knows much about the Taliban/AQ/UBL/Zawahiri as he ran the "post office/messenger service".
Let's hope we can roll a few more up. This was a good day for Pakistan, the Taliban/AQ no longer have free rein, look for more cooperation with us.
Checking out.....
Thanks for the great reports and analysis.
Ditto. These were really informative and allowed us to keep up with events (which were largely not covered by the MSM).
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/07/11/do1106.xml
excerpt
Critics noted that the Red Mosque first earned a reputation for militancy in the 1980s, under its founder, Maulana Abdullah, who used to work for Pakistan’s military intelligence.
When he was assassinated, the mosque was taken over by his sons, Abdur Rashid Ghazi and Mohammed Abdul Aziz. Both were at one time in the pay of the government as civil servants.
Excellent update. Why anyone gives these terrorists time for their exit strategy—again and again—has become tiring and very discouraging. And when they give someone house arrest, who is to say that the “truth” will come out? More time-buying, IMO.
And so, for over 20 years, they have allowed these terrorists to build their exit tunnels and plan their strategies. Boggles the mind.
Very good analysis:
Rethinking Western Strategies Toward Pakistan: An Action Agenda for the United States and Europe By Frederic Grare
http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=19422&prog=zgp&proj=zsa
Would we be able to trust Musharraf to comply with the terms of any of these potential options? How exactly do we moniter the steps taken thus far?
A classic moment in FR reporting.
arabs. the troublemakers are of arabic descent. they aren’t the same people as musharref’s ilk. imperialistic arabs, the same blood killing and raping in Darfur. Old school imperialism spread by seed. Bomb the NW territories into rubble.
arabs flipped Iran and are trying to flip Pakistan and Bangladesh. The trouble makers are Wahabi (sp).
There arent any sikhs in pakistani punjab. They all left in 1947.
Punjab also is very experienced and wary of the Baloch. Ghazi and his family are all Baloch as are many of AQ: Khalid Sheik Muhammed, Ramzi bin Al Sheib, etc. Punjabis would be very motivated to attack them anyway and Pujabis have a long military history in the region, sort of like the Prussians.
Something else to consider, the mosque and madrassas are built on government property. That is very odd and haram (a sin) according to Islam. Muhammed was very clear that land for mosques had to be paid for and owned by the faithful only.
Abdullah and his followers basically squatted there, starting out with a small mosque and then constantly expanded. They never obtained ownership of the land, so many Paki muslims demand that the mosque be torn down because it is not on holy land and has never been consecrated by fatwa.
Abdullah and his sect were Baloch (Arab)troublemakers that never fit into Paki mainstream.
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