ISLAMABAD, July 8 (Xinhua) -- The Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema denied the claim of Lal Masjid that the operation on Saturday night claimed the lives of over 300 students in the mosque, the private Pakistani Geo TV channel reported Sunday.

    Cheema said that the security forces have been trying best to minimize human losses in operation and never used heavy weapons against militants in the mosque, according to Geo.

    Cheema stressed that the bombings carried out by security forces on Saturday night were aimed at breaching sections of the walls on the mosque compound so that the children who were taken hostages could get out, Geo reported.

    Abdul Rashid Ghazi, deputy chief of Lal Masjid who is leading resistance in the mosque, said earlier he had stocks of weapons enough to keep fighting the security forces for one month.

    Rashid claimed on Sunday that 310 girls and 25 male students were killed in overnight army bombing of the compound on Saturday night.