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9 dead in clash between Pakistani religious students and security force |
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08:25, July 04, 2007 |
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.
The incident occurred at about 12:30 (GMT 0830) after a group of religious students encircled some policemen deployed near the hard-line Lal Masjid and snatched arms from them, officials said.
The government on Monday called in around 1,000 Pakistan Rangers, and lodged them in apartments near the mosque, bringing the total number of Rangers deployed around the mosque to about 1,500, with 500 police commandos in support.
Meanwhile, the government asked government offices and other people to vacate all buildings near the Lal Masjid.
Reports said that the Lal Masjid militants had advanced weaponsand special masks in prevention of tear gas shelling.
Shortly after the exchange of fire, Lal Masjid clerics asked their "militants" to attack government forces and launched Jihad, according to private DAWN NEWS TV channel.
Vowing to enforce Shariat in the country, Lal Masjid administrators and their religious students entered into a standoff with the authorities since months ago over a land disputeabout a seminary affiliated with the mosque.
Lal Masjid administrator and students have taken a series stepsfrom occupying a government library, attacking some local women and music shops, and kidnapping policemen, since then, which were termed as unlawful by the government.
Source: Xinhua
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