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51 militants arrested in operation against Lal Masjid |
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14:43, July 10, 2007 |
The security forces arrested 51 Lal Masjid militants in the massive operation on Tuesday morning in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, a private Pakistani TV channel DAWN NEWS reported.
More commandos reached the mosque Tuesday morning as intensive firing continued, according to DAWN NEWS.
The army spokesman confirmed that 40 militants were killed and the security forces suffered losses of three elite force soldiers in the operation. The other 15 soldiers who were injured had been rushed to a hospital, the spokesman added.
An official said that the government was not sure about the status of Abdul Rashid Ghazi, deputy chief of the mosque who was leading the resistance.
Ghazi claimed that the militants had only 14 Ak47s.
The military launched the Operation Silence at 4 a.m. local time Tuesday (2300 GMT Monday) after failure of talks to persuade the militants to surrender.
Source: Xinhua
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