Pakistan Seizes Red Mosque, Captures Foreign Fighters
After a week-long standoff with what they thought were home-grown radicals, Pakistani security forces finally raided the Red Mosque today. An attempt at a last-minute negotiation with the chief cleric foundered when the imam admitted that foreign fighters had joined his forces and the government refused to give them clemency:
Pakistani troops seized Islamambad's Red Mosque on Tuesday and attempted to flush out the remaining militants entrenched inside a women's religious school in fierce fighting that left at least 50 militants and eight soldiers dead, the army said.The troops stormed the mosque compound before dawn. Eight hours later, they were still trying to root out the well-armed defenders said to be holding about 150 hostages. Officials said at least 50 women were allowed to go free from the complex. Some 26 children had earlier escaped. ...
Amid the sounds of rolling explosions, commandos attacked from three directions about 4 a.m. and quickly cleared the ground floor of the mosque, army spokesman Gen. Waheed Arshad said. Some 20 children who rushed toward the advancing troops were brought to safety, he said.
Two dozen others fleeing were captured by security forces, Arshad said, without giving further details about those trapped inside. Another military official, who spoke on condition of anonimity because he was not authorized to talk to the press, later said that 51 militants had surrendered or been captured.
Abdul Rashid Ghazi remains inside the mosque in a basement level with a few of his forces holding the remaining hostages. The Pakistanis want to capture Ghazi and rescue the hostages, and they know they have Ghazi cornered. He has told them he will not come out quietly and wants to be martyred, so the situation looks rather bleak for the women and children he has left with him. Ghazi's mother has already died in the assault.
So far, though, the Pakistani military has done a remarkable job in keeping the raid as bloodless as possible. This had the potential of being Pervez Musharraf's Waco, with everyone dying in a conflagration that could have torched his own position. Based on these initial reports, the military has mostly managed to keep the suicidal extremists from martyring themselves; 40 have died as opposed to 51 captured, with some of the latter wounded. Pakistan now has dozens of them available for questioning -- a big plus in counterterrorism.
At the same time, it has shown some toughness in dealing with extremists that will put minds at ease, both in and out of Pakistan. The defiance of the Red Mosque, along with their attempt to impose Taliban-like rule through extortion and violence, undermined confidence in Musharraf's government and had people questioning his determination to confront extremism. The recent odd assassination attempt appears to have focused Musharraf more on that goal, and the call to put an end to the Red Mosque standoff demonstrates that focus.
One particular area has reacted as expected to the raid. The northwest frontier, meaning primarily Waziristan, erupted in anger and shouts for Musharraf's death. Perhaps Musharraf will have to rethink his disengagement in this area, where the Red Mosque's ideological allies plot and scheme for a Taliban-like takeover of both Afghanistan and Pakistan alike.
Posted by Ed Morrissey on July 10, 2007 4:11 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)
Comments (7)
Posted by Cybrludite![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/nav-commenters.gif)
| July 10, 2007 5:06 AM
One particular area has reacted as expected to the raid. The northwest frontier, meaning primarily Waziristan, erupted in anger and shouts for Musharraf's death.
So, business as usual in that area then? That's kind of like Berkeley erupting into protests & calls for impeachment over most anything Bush does, really... except for the minor detail that the folks in Waziristan tend to be better armed than Ted Nugent & Charleton Heston combined. Really, though, is there anything other than lobbing Pakistan's nukes at India that would get the crazies in Waziristan on board with Mushy?
Posted by docjim505 | July 10, 2007 5:26 AM
One wonders what the average Pakistani thinks about this. It seems to me that it's one thing to be a devout Muslim but quite another thing to see a mosque turned into a fortress by a bunch of heavily armed fanatics who take women and children hostage (maybe that's perfectly acceptable under Islam; anybody know?). My guess is that most Pakistanis are not especially extremist; they may not be thrilled with Musharaff, but don't want him dead and their country turned into Afghanistan v2.0.
Posted by Glenmore | July 10, 2007 7:54 AM
"Pakistan now has dozens of them available for questioning"
And I doubt they will be modelling their interrogation methods after Guantanemo or our version of Abu Graib either.
Posted by Rick Fisk | July 10, 2007 12:29 PM
PLEASE. I'd like to remind you that Musharref is a military dictator who overthrew the legitimate democratically-elected government there. To assign anything other than malice to their motives is absurd.
Posted by Tia_choo | July 11, 2007 12:39 AM
Donno how I got here to a lousy journalism? What you guys trying to sell?
Posted by S.Ahmad | July 11, 2007 2:16 PM
This is in response to docjim505's comments. As a Pakistani American who have spent most of life in Pakistan, I can tell that majority of Pakistani's with the exception of tribal areas are moderate & fully support Musharraf regarding action against fanatics of Lal "so called Masjid(mosque) " who were using sacred place of mosque as a cover for their nefarious designs. Also to clarify that Islam strictly forbids taking any hostages and even in wars against enemies, forbids attacking women, children & old people. The fanatics are abusing religion for their own political gains & have nothing to do with true Islam.
Love for all hatred for none !
Posted by docjim505 | July 11, 2007 2:21 PM
S.Ahmad,
Thanks. That's about what I thought.