A senior commander of Pakistans elite Special Service Group (SSG) commando force was killed in heavy firing that erupted in the wee hours of Sunday.
Islamabad, July 8 : A senior commander of Pakistan's elite Special Service Group (SSG) commando force was killed in heavy firing that erupted in the wee hours of Sunday.
The gunfight caused a great damage to a large area of the Jamia Hafsa mosque, but Lt. Col. Haroon Islam, who led the operation on Friday, lost his life as the standoff between the Musharraf regime and the Islamists entered its sixth consecutive day.
According to reports in local dailies, firing erupted as soon as Pakistani forces started advancing towards the backside of Jamia Hafsa.
Heavy firing lasted for about 45 minutes, and both parties exchanged sporadic, intermittent bursts throughout the night.
Military sources said Lt. Col Islam, who was leading the Special Forces conducting Lal Masjid operation on Friday evening, was injured, and rushed to the CMH hospital, but died soon after.
Another Pakistan Rangers official Maj Tariq also sustained injuries in the clash. He has been admitted to CMH Rawalpindi.
Both were airlifted by a helicopter to the hospital.
Today, curfew relaxation has been announced for two hours starting 10 am.
Yesterday, the Pakistan Army took over the control of the operation, which till now was been overseen by the Pakistan Rangers since Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Federal Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao has said that arms are in abundance inside the mosque premises, refuting radical cleric Abdul Rasheed Ghazi's claim that they the radicals had a limited number of licensed weapons.
According to reports, apart from the students, at least 60 "hardcore" militants believed to have links with Al Qaeda and Jaish-e-Mohammad are still inside the Lal Masjid.
So far 1300 people have surrendered and at least 20 people have died in the operations since Tuesday.
Elsewhere Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf has told militants holed up in the Lal Masjid to either surrender or risk getting killed in the military operations being conducted by the security forces.
"They should surrender and hand over their weapons, otherwise they risk being killed," Musharraf told reporters during his visit to the flood-hit southwestern province of Balochistan.
"The government has enough power and no one can stand before its might. Our concern is for children and women, and we are showing lot of patience and restraint," he added.
ANI