Negotiations to an end a bloody standoff at Pakistani’s Red Mosque have broken down and sustained gunfire and big explosions have been heard from the vicinity of the mosque.
A top military official has told AFP that troops are now inside the mosque.
Top military spokesman Major General Arshad Waheed says the troops are at the roof top.
He says it’s a final push to clear the place of armed militants.
But he added that the militants are putting up stiff resistance.
Troops surrounded the compound a week ago, when clashes between armed students and government forces erupted outside the the compound housing the Mosque, after months of tension.
The government says at least 21 people have already been killed in the week-long standoff, although those inside the mosque say the death toll is substantially higher.
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s1974371.htm
By Kamran Haider
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani forces launched an operation on Tuesday to clear militants from a mosque compound after talks to end a week-long standoff broke down, the military said.
“We launched an operation at 4 a.m. (midnight British time) 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, in Islamabad, and were coming under fire from the militants inside.
Troops have surrounded the compound since Tuesday last week when clashes between armed student radicals and government forces erupted outside the compound housing the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, and a girl’s religious school after months of tension.
At least 21 people have been killed.
Earlier on Tuesday, government negotiators announced talks to end the siege had failed. Sustained gunfire and big explosions erupted from the vicinity of the mosque moments later.
“We tried to make him see sense but it seems he is trying to buy time,” Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim Khan told reporters, referring to the radical cleric holed up in the mosque with militant fighters and hundreds of followers.
The government has been demanding that rebel cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi and his 50 or 60 hardcore of fighters, who authorities say include wanted militants, surrender unconditionally or die.
Ghazi has refused, saying he would prefer martyrdom. He said he and the followers of his Taliban-style movement hoped their deaths would spark an Islamic revolution.
“They are not sincere ... they want bloodshed,” Ghazi told Geo TV after the announcement the talks had broken down, speaking by telephone from the compound.
HARDCORE
Security forces earlier said they had held back from mounting a full-scale assault because of fears for the women and children inside. The government says many of the 200 to 500 students inside had been forced to stay.
Ghazi said he had nearly 2,000 followers with him but no militants. No one was being forced to stay, he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistani television channels reported that a deal was being worked out.
A delegation of religious scholars and ruling party politicians began talks on Monday with a radical cleric barricaded in an Islamabad mosque compound with militant gunmen and hundreds of followers.
Chief negotiator, former prime minister and ruling party leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain later went to see President Pervez Musharraf late on Monday.
Hussain returned to the mosque compound early on Tuesday for more talks.
About 1,200 students left the mosque early on the week-long siege but the numbers leaving later slowed to a trickle.
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.
Throughout the week, gunfire and explosions have rocked the leafy neighbourhood.
(Additional reporting by Zeeshan Haider)