Pakistani forces storm the Red Mosque (4 AM, Tuesday)

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Pakistan forces stormed Lal Masjid on Tuesday to flush out radical students (AP Photo)

ISLAMABAD: Two commanders were killed and ten critically injured as Pakistan Army stormed Lal Masjid early Tuesday morning to flush out militants holed up there.

The Operation Silence was launched at 4 am after talks with the radical and the government to find a peaceful solution to the week-long stand-off broke down.

Several ambulances were seen rushing towards the complex.

Defence Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad told reporters that the security forces entered from different points.

"According to my information part of the mosque has been cleared but heavy fighting was on in madrasa," he said.

Militants are using mosque to fire and retaliated with gun fire. "The militants are using small arms and grenades. They are in the basement, we have coverted the roof top," he said.

"We are facing resistance from the basement. Such an operation could take three or four hours," he said.

He said 20 children kept inside the complex by the militants have been rescued. He said he has no information about the claim of Deputy administrator of the Masjid Abdul Rashid Ghazi that his mother has been killed.

State run PTV said there was direct to direct confrontation between commandos and militants.

"It is the final push to clear the mosque of armed militants," Arshad said. He asked the residents of the capital not to come out or go onto their terraces as they could be hit by shrapnel and stray bullets.

He said estimates are that about 200 to 300 militants were holed up in the complex and the troops hope to finish it as early as possible.

The operation was launched as soon as ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) President Shujaat Hussain in a brief nationally televised press conference said that talks to find out a peaceful solution to the stand-off had failed.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Two_kil...how/2190422.cms

[SqdnGuns 21]

What took them so damn'd long.................

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

23 militants, three troops dead at Lal Masjid: army

ISLAMABAD, July 10 (AFP) - At least 23 militants and three soldiers were killed Tuesday in a Pakistan army assault on besieged Lal Masjid in the heart of Islamabad, the military said. “According to my information 23 militants were killed and at least 15 injured. Three from the security forces were also killed and 15 wounded,” Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP. He said he had “no information” about the fate of Abdul Rashi Ghazi, the firebrand cleric leading the militants holding out at the mosque. He also said he did not know if any women were among the dead. The government says female students from a religious school attached to the mosque have been held inside, along with children. General Arshad said there had been no suicide blasts yet inside the compound, following reports that 15 suicide vests had been issued to militants inside the mosque in the run-up to the assault. Around 60 percent of the compound had now been cleared, he added. The military made loudspeaker announcements to militants in the mosque that those who wished to surrender could come out with their hands up, otherwise they would be killed. (Posted @ 08:55 PST)

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Woot!!!! Give those terrorists hell!!!!

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Dead bodies everywhere inside Lal Masjid: Witness

ISLAMABAD: Dead bodies are "everywhere" inside a radical Pakistani mosque raided by troops on Tuesday, a source inside the complex said by telephone.

A man who picked up one of top mosque cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi's mobile phones said those inside were under "massive bombing and gunfire. This is indiscriminate killing".

"There is no contact with each other because no one can leave the rooms and basements. There are dead bodies everywhere," the witness added, declining to give his name as explosions and gunfire echoed in the background.

One of those killed was Ghazi's elderly mother, who died of suffocation from smoke caused by blasts, while Ghazi was still alive, the source added.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Bye, mullah Ghazi; keep a space at your table for Mush to join you shortly!

[almaty 19]

Pakistan did what was necessary to restore order...the criminals had an opportunity to give up..and chose death....

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Pakistan did what was necessary to restore order...the criminals had an opportunity to give up..and chose death....

In that country, restoring the rule of martial law is not the same as restoring order--as the army has abused such a role aplenty since 1956; should be viewed more like the routing of a small, ultra-ultra-vicious gang by a larger, better-armed vicious one.

[almaty 19]

Pakistan did what was necessary to restore order...the criminals had an opportunity to give up..and chose death....

In that country, restoring the rule of martial law is not the same as restoring order--as the army has abused such a role aplenty since 1956; should be viewed more like the routing of a small, ultra-ultra-vicious gang by a larger, better-armed vicious one.

as always, a lesson on international history and politics for me from my brother sriniv..thanks///

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Updation: first half of my "adios" to Ghazi proved accurate; the net result will be the overthrow (and murder) of Musharraf by Punjabi soldiers/officers, hence the second part.

(Punjabis like Ghazi generally hate Urdu-native speakers like Musharraf, especially when the latter are in authority--as shown in the 1951 assassination of Pakistan's only elected leader, Liaqat Ali Khan)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6288704.stm

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Picture which describes the situation as-is.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

And now, Al Qaeda declares jihad against Pakistan (BBC)

Al-Qaeda issues Pakistan threat

Al-Qaeda's second-in-command has purportedly called for attacks against Pakistan in revenge for the army's assault on Islamabad's Red Mosque.

In a video recording released on an Islamist website, a voice said to be that of Ayman al-Zawahiri calls the siege of the mosque a crime.

"Your salvation is only through jihad [holy war]," the speaker on the tape says, over an image of Zawahiri.

At least 83 people died when troops cleared the mosque of militants.

"This crime can only be washed away by repentance or blood," says the voice on the tape.

"If you do not revolt, [Pakistan's President Pervez] Musharraf will annihilate you," the recording warns.

"Musharraf will not stop until he uproots Islam from Pakistan."

Pakistani officials said on Wednesday that the bodies of 73 people, including one its most militant clerics, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, were found at the Red Mosque, or Lal Masjid.

Ten soldiers were also killed as they stormed the mosque complex.

Zawahiri and al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden are believed to be hiding in the rugged mountainous tribal area along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Let's see, in the past three months they've declared war against:

• India (officially only--as India's erstwhile Hindu-militant BJP government always took it for granted that AQ was against it)
  
• Iran (recent threat, lots of links, this one from WND
  
• Pakistan
  

And it turns out that the biggest enemy of Al Qaeda is.....Al Qaeda (which just allied three countries, two of them Muslim-majority, which hate each other against it).

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Oh dear. So much hate.