Lal Masjid boundary wall collapses in gunfight

The boundary wall of the besieged Lal Masjid and the Jamia Hafsa collapsed following heavy gunfight between the Pakistan Army and the Islamists.

Islamabad, July 8 : The boundary wall of the besieged Lal Masjid and the Jamia Hafsa collapsed following heavy gunfight between the Pakistan Army and the Islamists.

"It has been decided that Jamia Hafsa will be demolished completely at the end of the operation," The News quoted an official as saying.

Elsewhere, Maulana Abdur Rashid Ghazi is determined not to surrender and has said they have enough weapons, rations for a month.

The Lal Masjid leadership has claimed that male and female students were being systematically targeted.

The bodies of the dead and injured students are lying inside the premises, while the government is rejecting such claims, a Masjid cleric said.

Meanwhile, 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.

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.

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.

Meanwhile, 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.

On Saturday, the religious parties staged a protest outside Parliament over the issue.

However, explosions and heavy gunfire stopped the five-member delegation of the religious parties from entering the mosque complex in their bid to persuade the authorities to send children out.

"I have to say with great regret that we were stopped by the Rangers (Paramilitary) officials," said parliamentarian Maulana Shah Abdul Aziz.

ANI