{"id":4562,"date":"2007-07-10T18:01:06","date_gmt":"2007-07-10T23:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com?p=4562"},"modified":"2007-07-10T15:18:43","modified_gmt":"2007-07-10T20:18:43","slug":"pakistans_milit_1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/2007\/07\/10\/pakistans_milit_1\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan’s Military Storms Islamabad’s Red Mosque"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Lal<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Early this morning in Islamabad, the week-long stand-off at Lal Masjid<\/a> between radical militants and Pakistani security forces worsened. Via The Times Online<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n

Heavy smoke drifted over the mosque complex yesterday, only a few miles from the presidential palace and the parliament building. Gunfire and explosions thundered across the city as the codenamed Operation Silence unfolded. At times it seemed as if the entire complex was being flattened<\/strong>.<\/blockquote>\n\n
About 70 militants and 12 soldiers died in the fighting. Among the dead was Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the firebrand cleric who led the rebels during the standoff with Pakistan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s security forces, and who declared he would rather die than surrender<\/strong>.<\/blockquote>\n\n
He assumed command after Maulana Abdul Aziz, his elder brother and chief prayer leader, was caught trying to escape and wearing a woman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s burka last week.<\/blockquote>\n\n

Ghazi, who hoped that his martyrdom would inspire a revolution, was found dead in the basement.<\/p>\n\n

Parents of children who attended schools at the compound prayed for their safety before discovering…<\/p>\n\n

Only 20 boys were rescued by security forces who launched the final assault on the mosque. Others…were still missing as the military cleared the sprawling compound by nightfall, engaging in gun battles with militants, room by room.<\/blockquote>\n\n

As for the girls, some of whom had stated they were ready to die for their cause, out of their own free will:<\/p>\n\n

About two dozen women and girls dressed in burkas fled from the mosque as the the final assault began. Among them was Umme Hasan, the wife of Maulana Abdul Aziz. The head of the Madrassa Hafza, the seminary for women, she was known for her extreme views and claimed to have trained her students to become suicide bombers.<\/blockquote>\n\n

Mushie, in a no-win situation: either he angers moderates or radicals, there’s no in between.<\/p>\n\n

President Musharraf ordered his troops to enter the mosque after an emergency meeting yesterday and a final attempt to resolve the week-long stand-off failed. Hundreds of special forces stormed the mosque at dawn but did not dislodge the well-entrenched militants until well into the night<\/strong>.<\/blockquote>\n\n
Pakistani officials said that they had done everything to avoid a bloodbath that would have brought worldwide condemnation of General Musharraf\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s embattled administration.<\/blockquote>\n\n

Whither Pakistan?<\/p>\n\n

Political analysts believe that a confrontation between the Government and Islamists is now unavoidable. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is a defining moment for both the country and the nation in the battle against militancy and religious extremism,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Shireen Mazari, the chairwoman of the Institute for Strategic Studies, based in Islamabad. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There is no going back.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/blockquote>\n\n

NPR<\/a>: Soldiers Storm Mosque in Pakistan, Killing Dozens<\/em><\/p>\n\n

NYT<\/a> [Thanks, Kush]: At Least 40 Militants Dead as Pakistani Military Storms Mosque After Talks Fail<\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Early this morning in Islamabad, the week-long stand-off at Lal Masjid between radical militants and Pakistani security forces worsened. Via The Times Online: Heavy smoke drifted over the mosque complex yesterday, only a few miles from the presidential palace and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4562"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4562\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}