ISLAMABAD, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Hard-liners remaining defiant in Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, in Pakistani capital Islamabad, are urged to surrender immediately for saving lives of innocent students, an interior ministry spokesman said Monday.

    Talking to a state-run TV channel, Pakistani Interior Ministry Spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema Monday said many students wanting to come out from the besieged Lal Masjid premises were denied permission by the mosque administration.

    The official said some children were on a hunger strike to press for their release.

    An unknown number of children and female students are being held hostage by armed personnel in Lal Masjid, according to officials.

    Cheema said the government was consistently exhibiting restraint and trying to contain losses up to minimum possible level.

    To save innocent lives as many as possible, the Pakistani government is avoiding full-fledged military operation against Lal Masjid, which has been encircled by troops since July 4, officials said.

    Authorities continued to appeal to Lal Masjid administration to let children and women to go out freely to save innocent lives.

    But deputy chief of besieged Lal Masjid Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi said the students were staying inside the mosque of their own free will.

    Ghazi said he would fight until death after an earlier request for post-arrest safety without legal charges was rejected by the government demanding unconditional surrender.

    Lal Masjid followers and security personnel deployed outside erupted into deadly street clashes on July 3, which so far have left at least 22 people killed and over 100 injured.

    So far around 1,300 religious students have come out of the mosque and seminary complex to surrender to law enforcers since six days ago, according to officials.