Abdul Rashid Ghazi's body was found in the basement of the mosque, hours after troops stormed it, officials said. The army says up to 50 militants and eight soldiers have been killed, and about 50 women and children rescued. Students at the mosque and its attached religious schools have waged a campaign for months pressing for Sharia law.Mr Ghazi is thought to have barricaded himself and others in the basement of the mosque after troops attacked overnight and took control of most of the complex. Officials said he was killed after he tried to surrender. It is not clear if troops or militants fired the shots which killed him.
Additional: ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani security forces killed on Tuesday rebel cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi during an assault on his mosque complex, an interior ministry official told Reuters. "I can confirm that Ghazi is dead," said the senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "He was killed in the last stage of fighting."
| "He's dead, Jim." |
Around 50 Islamist fighters had died earlier in the assault on Islamabad's Lal Masid, Red Mosque.
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Rebel cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi was killed in crossfire between militants and Pakistani forces who stormed an Islamabad mosque, an
'He was spotted in the basement and asked to come out. He came out with four or five militants who kept on firing at security forces,' spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema said, updating his earlier account of the incident. 'The troops responded and in the crossfire he was killed.'
| "That's our story and we're sticking to it." |