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Children run for life from radical mosque in Pakistani capital |
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09:45, July 10, 2007 |
Some 20 children escaped from the compound of a radical mosque in the Pakistani capital Tuesday during firing between the militants in the mosque and security forces, the military said.
"Twenty children have managed to escape during the fire. An intense engagement is going on with the militants," said military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad.
A major operation was launched early Tuesday against the hardline militants in the defiant Lal Masjid mosque in the Pakistani capital after failure of talks, the military said.
Loud explosions were heard after the operation launched.
Children running out of the mosque are with the troops now, local TV quoted the military as saying.
Maulana Adbul Rasheed Ghazi, the defiant cleric still inside the mosque, claimed that his mother was killed in the operation.
Earlier, Pakistan Muslim League PML (Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat, who talked with Ghazi on behalf of the government, said that the talks failed and he was disappointed.
Shujaat told the press that Ghazi wanted delay on talks, adding "we tried our best but Ghazi put more conditions".
Ghazi said that he wanted media persons to go into the mosque but the government refused.
He also claimed that he agreed to use safe passage to hometown in media presence but the government refused.
Source: Xinhua
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