At Least 106 Dead at Pakistan Mosque
Pastor Dale Morgan
At Least 106 Dead at Pakistan Mosque*
Wednesday July 11, 2007 8:16 PM
By SADAQAT JAN
Associated Press Writer
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Commandos cleared the warren-like Red Mosque
complex of rebel fighters Wednesday, ending a fierce eight-day siege and
street battles that left more than 100 dead. The government warned it
would not tolerate militancy in any of Pakistan's thousands of religious
schools.
Officials found no corpses of women and children, although seven or
eight of the bodies had been burned beyond recognition, apparently by
the militants' gasoline bombs, said Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, a military
spokesman.
At least 106 people were killed overall since the violence began at the
Red Mosque. They include 10 soldiers, one police ranger and several
civilians who died in the crossfire // one word in 2002 of the initial
street fighting last week.
The dead included the mosque's pro-Taliban cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi.
Arshad said 73 bodies believed to be those of the mosque's die-hard
defenders were found after the final, 35-hour assault that began early
Tuesday.
``There may be a few more which may be found in the debris. We don't
expect there will be many,'' Arshad told Dawn News television. ``We have
handed them (the bodies) to the civilian authorities.''
The elite Special Services Group commandos went in after unsuccessful
attempts to get the militants to surrender to the siege mounted by the
government following deadly street clashes with armed supporters of the
mosque July 3.
The extremists had been using the mosque as a base to send out
radicalized students to enforce their version of Islamic morality,
including abducting alleged prostitutes and trying to ``re-educate''
them at the compound in the heart of Pakistan's capital.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz warned that the government would act against
any other madrassa, or religious school, found to be involved in militancy.
``Militancy cannot be promoted, period,'' he told reporters. ``The law
will take its course, as the law took its course here.''
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf vowed five years ago to regulate
Pakistan's thousands of religious schools, but concerns have only grown
that some are used as sanctuaries or training sites for militants -
including Taliban rebels fighting in Afghanistan.
Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim conceded it was possible that
other madrassas in Pakistan could be harboring weaponry like the Red
Mosque, but added that the assault had sent a strong message that the
government ``meant business.''
``We need to be now much more vigilant, but I hope they (extremist
madrassas) have got the message that if they are in involved in such
activities, they will have to face action,'' he said.
An army officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not
authorized to speak to the media, said troops moved from room to room in
basements of the compound, blowing up foxholes where militants had been
entrenched.
Relatives of young women, men and children who had been in the mosque
waited behind army barricades and inquired at morgues or a sports
stadium where authorities set up an information center for those seeking
missing loved ones.
``I am looking for my son who was studying at the madrassa, but I don't
know whether he is alive,'' said Jan Mohammed, 42, whose son, Mohammed
Khan, could not leave the mosque during the siege. He was among about
100 parents who were gathered at the sports stadium.
Ghazi's body was found in the basement of a women's religious school
after a fierce gunbattle between government troops and militants, said
Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema, a senior Interior Ministry official.
Several security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because
they were not authorized to speak to the media, said Ghazi was wounded
by two bullets and gave no response when ordered to surrender. Commandos
then fired another volley and found him dead.
Arshad said Ghazi's body had been handed over to the Interior Ministry.
Cheema said the body was taken for burial in Ghazi's native village of
Rojhan in southwestern Pakistan. His brother, Abdul Aziz, the mosque's
chief who was arrested trying to escape from the complex last week,
would be allowed to attend the funeral.
The military announced that about 1,300 people had escaped or otherwise
left the compound since July 3. Authorities took an unknown number into
custody, while others, mostly young students, have returned to their homes.
Arshad said the media would be taken on a tour of the mosque complex,
but probably not until Thursday.
The casualties at the Red Mosque could further turn public opinion
against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who already faces a backlash
for his bungled attempts to fire the country's chief justice.
Following several fiery anti-government protests Tuesday, about 500
people chanting ``Death to Musharraf!'' rallied for an hour Wednesday in
the northwest frontier city of Peshawar.
``This (mosque attack) is part of our government's action against
religious elements to please America,'' said Shabbir Khan, a lawmaker
from an opposition Islamic party, at the demonstration.
About 15 other Islamic opposition lawmakers gathered in front of the
Supreme Court in Islamabad, blaming Musharraf for Pakistan's troubles,
including the mosque attack, and calling for his resignation.
In neighboring Afghanistan, a senior Taliban commander, Mansoor
Dadullah, urged Muslims to launch suicide attacks on Pakistani security
forces, calling the assault ``a cruel act.''
``I would have sent 10,000 mujahedeen to support the (Red Mosque)
students but we are busy in Afghanistan and Islamabad is far from
Afghanistan. I wished to go myself to support them,'' he told The
Associated Press by telephone.
Several editorials in mainstream newspapers said Musharraf had no choice
but to confront the militants.
``The decision to launch the final assault was not an easy one, but
given the circumstances there was nothing else that the government could
really do,'' said the English-language paper The News.
But it questioned how the militants had managed to find a haven ``inside
the heart of Islamabad.''
``Surely this is a disturbing indictment of the failure of the law
enforcement agencies to keep track of the movement of such elements,''
it said.
Another English-language daily, Dawn, said that ``no tears will be shed
over the death of the well-armed militants,'' praising the government
for exercising ``utmost restraint'' in the standoff.
The State Department endorsed the Musharraf government's decision to
storm the mosque, saying that the militants had been given many
warnings, and President Bush reaffirmed his confidence in the Pakistani
president in the fight against extremists.
---
Associated Press writers Munir Ahmad, Zarar Khan and Stephen Graham
contributed to this report.