Commandos clear Red Mosque of all militants

ISLAMABAD – Pakistani commandos cleared the warren-like Red Mosque complex of all die-hard defenders yesterday, ending a fierce eight-day siege and street battles which left more than 80 dead.

“The first phase of the operation is over. There are no more militants left inside,” Army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said in a telephone interview.He said that the compound was still being combed for mines, booby traps and other weaponry.Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told reporters that no bodies of women and children had been found inside the sprawling complex and said the probability such bodies would be found during the clearing operation was low.”The major group of women was all together and came out all together,” he said, referring to 27 women and three children who emerged from the mosque on Tuesday.More than 50 militants and 10 soldiers were killed and 33 wounded during the final, 35-hour assault by the elite Special Services Group which began in the early hours of Tuesday, the army said.The dead including the mosque’s pro-Taliban cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi.The commandos went in after unsuccessful attempts to get the mosque’s militants to surrender to a weeklong siege mounted by the government following deadly street clashes with armed supporters of the mosque on July 3.The extremists had been using the mosque as a base to send out radicalised students to enforce their version of Islamic morality, including abducting alleged prostitutes and trying to “re-educate” them at the compound.More than 80 people have been killed overall since the violence began.Arshad said three of the remaining die-hard defenders had been killed overnight, while the government side sustained some wounded as late as midmorning.The final hours of the operation inside the compound, which included the mosque and a women’s religious school, involved troops moving room to room in basements, blowing up foxholes where militants had been entrenched, an army officer said.A photographer took an image of one apparent militant, naked from the waist up, being led from the mosque to a nearby interrogation centre by two commandos.Arshad said the media would be taken on a tour of the complex, located in the heart of the Pakistani capital, but probably not until today.Earlier, the army had scheduled a visit for yesterday.Nampa-APThere are no more militants left inside,” Army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said in a telephone interview.He said that the compound was still being combed for mines, booby traps and other weaponry.Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told reporters that no bodies of women and children had been found inside the sprawling complex and said the probability such bodies would be found during the clearing operation was low.”The major group of women was all together and came out all together,” he said, referring to 27 women and three children who emerged from the mosque on Tuesday.More than 50 militants and 10 soldiers were killed and 33 wounded during the final, 35-hour assault by the elite Special Services Group which began in the early hours of Tuesday, the army said.The dead including the mosque’s pro-Taliban cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi.The commandos went in after unsuccessful attempts to get the mosque’s militants to surrender to a weeklong siege mounted by the government following deadly street clashes with armed supporters of the mosque on July 3.The extremists had been using the mosque as a base to send out radicalised students to enforce their version of Islamic morality, including abducting alleged prostitutes and trying to “re-educate” them at the compound.More than 80 people have been killed overall since the violence began.Arshad said three of the remaining die-hard defenders had been killed overnight, while the government side sustained some wounded as late as midmorning.The final hours of the operation inside the compound, which included the mosque and a women’s religious school, involved troops moving room to room in basements, blowing up foxholes where militants had been entrenched, an army officer said.A photographer took an image of one apparent militant, naked from the waist up, being led from the mosque to a nearby interrogation centre by two commandos.Arshad said the media would be taken on a tour of the complex, located in the heart of the Pakistani capital, but probably not until today.Earlier, the army had scheduled a visit for yesterday.Nampa-AP