ISLAMABAD, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Heavy firing exchange
between hard-line Lal Masjid personnel and law enforcers in Pakistani capital
Islamabad started Wednesday, TV channels reported.
Armored vehicles of armed forces were advancing
forward and started gas shelling, and firing from the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque,
also began.
Earlier TV screen footages quoted President Pervez Musharraf
as saying that there was no compromise on writ of government and time
for negotiation was over.
The private DAWN NEWS TV channel quoted unnamed
sources as saying that the Army and Rangers have been given final order to go
ahead.
Pakistani government has called for surrender of
religious personnel in the mosque, and handover of personnel involved in
snatching arms and opening firing on security personnel at noon on July 3.
Over 700 religious students have surrendered to the
authorities and they were allowed to go home freely with government finance of
about 5,000 rupees (about 83.3 U.S. dollars) for each person, according to local
reports.
The firing exchange between the hard-line religious
students and law enforcers on Tuesday afternoon left at least 10 people killed
and some 94 others injured, officials said.
ISLAMABAD, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Over 300 students Wednesday
left the seminaries in the Pakistani capital to surrender before the
authorities.
The authorities have adopted a strategy to observe
utmost restraint to avoid bloodshed, law enforcement officials told the private
Geo TV.
The strategy has produced positive results and more
than 100 female and 200 male students of the seminaries affiliated to the Lal
Masjid mosque have surrendered before the officials, they said. Full story
ISLAMABAD, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Pakistani government Wednesday again asked students and leaders at a mosque in the capital to surrender to amicably resolve the standoff in the mosque.
"We are not giving an exact time for the surrender but we want immediate solution. If the mosque and seminary were not vacated, then action would be taken," Minister of State for Information Tariq Azeem said. Full story
ISLAMABAD, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The clash between Pakistani religious students of Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, and the law enforcers on Tuesday afternoon left a total of 9 people dead and many others injured in Islamabad, the interior ministry said.
The killed comprised one soldier, four religious students, three passers-by and one cameraman, said Zafar Iqbal Wariach, State Minister of Interior, while addressing a news briefing here. Full story
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