Remember All That Talk About Wanting Martyrdom?
Troops Storm Red Mosque, Killing Cleric
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistani commandos stormed the besieged Red Mosque before dawn Tuesday and killed a hard-line cleric and dozens of his die-hard followers in a bloody assault that ignited fiery protests and calls for revenge by Islamic extremists.
The army said more than 50 militants and eight soldiers died in the fighting, but gunfire and explosions could still be heard after nightfall. Officials said troops were trying to clear militants from residential quarters next to one of the two schools in the compound.
Among the dead was pro-Taliban cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who led the insurrection with his brother, although recent reports indicated that Al Qaeda and other terrorists had gained control of the situation.
Ghazi’s body was found in the basement of the women’s religious school in the compound after a fierce gunbattle, according to a senior Interior Ministry official, Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema.
Several security officials said Ghazi had been hit by two bullets and gave no response when ordered to surrender. Soldiers then fired another volley and found him dead, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.
Elite troops attacked the mosque after a nearly weeklong siege failed to induce militants to surrender. Ghazi’s older brother, Abdul Aziz, the mosque leader, was captured last week trying to slip out dressed in a woman’s burqa and high heels as hundreds of people left the compound.
Officials declined to estimate how many people were still inside Tuesday night, but a local relief agency said the army asked for 400 white funeral shrouds.
The government had sought to avoid a battle, fearing heavy bloodshed would worsen public discontent with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. He is opposed by Islamic hard-liners for allying with the U.S., and angered many Pakistanis by trying to oust the chief justice.
Even as the fighting raged, more than 100 armed tribesmen and religious students chanted for the death of Musharraf and briefly blocked a road near the northwestern town of Batagram, police said. Some 500 students rallied in the eastern city of Multan, chanting “Down with Musharraf” and burning tires on a main road.
An opposition coalition of hard-line Islamic parties, Mutahida Majlis- e-Amal, announced three days of mourning starting Wednesday in the North West Frontier Province to protest the attack.
The anti-vice campaign by the mosque that preceded the siege embarrassed Musharraf and underlined his administration’s failure to control extremist religious schools. Militants used the mosque as a base to send out radicalized students to enforce their version of Islamic morality, including abducting alleged prostitutes and trying to “re-educate” them at the mosque.
Ghazi’s killing could provoke a “violent outburst” in the country, said Rasul Bakhsh Rais, a political scientist at the Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Benazir Bhutto, a former prime minister long regarded as Musharraf’s chief political rival, agreed that might happen, but said the president made the right decision in assailing the mosque.
“I’m glad there was no cease-fire with the militants in the mosque because cease-fires simply embolden the militants,” she told Sky TV from exile in Britain. “There will be a backlash, but at some time we have to stop appeasing the militants. We can’t afford to keep appeasing them.”
The United States backed Pakistan’s decision to storm the mosque, saying the militants were given many warnings.
“The government of Pakistan has proceeded in a responsible way,” State Department spokesman Tom Casey said. “All governments have a responsibility to preserve order.”
At least 80 people had been killed around the mosque since July 3, when followers of the mosque’s militant clerics fought gunbattles in the street with security forces. Troops surrounded the compound the next day.
It wasn’t clear how many people remained in the mosque compound, or whether any were being held as human shields.
Officials said earlier that the militants had an unknown number of hostages. But last week, some of those who left the mosque, including young women seemingly as radicalized as the men, said their colleagues stayed of their own free will and were prepared to die.
An army spokesman, Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, said troops were doing their best to avoid casualties among any hostages, including using stun grenades to subdue extremist fighters.
“We are taking a step-by-step approach so there is no collateral damage,” he told reporters. “We are fighting room by room.”
He said more than 50 militants had been killed in the assault, while eight soldiers were dead and 29 wounded.
Abdul Sattar Edhi, head of the private relief agency Edhi Foundation, told reporters the army had asked him to prepare 400 white shrouds used for covering the dead.
Arshad said a total of 87 men, women and children had emerged from the compound in groups Tuesday. A military official who demanded anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media said Aziz’s wife and daughter were among them.
The army raid began about 4 a.m. after a government-backed effort failed to negotiate a peaceful end to the standoff. One cleric in the mediation team, Rehmatullah Khalil, accused Musharraf of sabotaging a draft agreement—a charge the government denied.
Soon after the mediators left, commandos attacked from three directions and quickly cleared the ground floor of the mosque, Arshad said. Some 20 children who rushed toward the advancing troops were taken to safety, he said.
Arshad said the compound, which includes 75 rooms, large basements and expansive courtyards, presented a “very difficult environment” for soldiers facing militants armed with machine guns, rocket launchers and gasoline bombs.
“Those who surrender will be arrested, but the others will be treated as combatants and killed,” he said.
About two hours into the fighting, Ghazi told the private Geo TV network by telephone that his mother had been wounded by a gunshot. One of Ghazi’s aides, Abdul Rahman, later said she had died.
“The government is using full force. This is naked aggression,” Ghazi said. “My martyrdom is certain now.”
The 43-year-old Ghazi was once a relatively moderate member of the Pakistan establishment who became radicalized after the 1998 sectarian murder of his cleric father. He took an even harder line when Musharraf decided to support Washington’s war on terrorist groups following the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S.
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“Among the dead was pro-Taliban cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who led the insurrection with his brother, although recent reports indicated that Al Qaeda and other terrorists had gained control of the situation.”
HA!! Well, that speaks volumes doesn’t it. Seems when AQ gets ahold of something it just turns to shit in a hurry. Good Lord, if only they can keep getting ahold of every fricking group in the Middle East. We might be on to something here.
July 10th, 2007 at 12:27 pmDing, dong the mullah is dead. Mean old bitch, wicked bitch. Ding dong the mullah is dead.
Do the same thing to the rest of the MMA puppets, and Pakistan, might yet be free of these neo-philistines.
July 10th, 2007 at 12:41 pmMan that building in the bottom left of the picture looks like it would make a sweet nightclub, nice open air, cool courtyard. What do you guys thinks of “The Martyr’s Paradise on Earth Sin Palace”, I think it has a good ring to it, they could even have 72 “virgin” (at least the first night it’s open) cocktail waitresses. Thats what they should do with that place once they clear it. Leave the blood on the walls effect.
July 10th, 2007 at 12:59 pmHey… do the female martyrs get 72 virgins also?
Yikes!
Also, I absolutely love the dressing in drag to escape bit. At least he got to see how fuggin hot it is under one of those sonsabitches, if even just for a short while.
July 10th, 2007 at 1:10 pmSounds like Pakistan’s version of Waco, Islam miltant style. Is that Janet Reno in that Burka?
July 10th, 2007 at 1:15 pmwell, well, well, looks like those jihadis died harder than my man bruce willis!!!!
July 10th, 2007 at 1:48 pmThank you for the blog.
July 10th, 2007 at 1:54 pmDead jihadis. Gotta love it!
July 10th, 2007 at 2:41 pmbertrand russell author of “Why I am not a christian” concedes this about islam and bolshevism:
“Bolshevism combines the characteristics of the french revolution with those of the rise of islam…..Marx has taught that Communism is fatally predestined to come about;this produces a state of mind not unlike that of the early successors of muhammed…Among Religions, Bolshevism is to be reckoned with Mohammedanism rather than with Christianity and Buddhism. Christianity and Buddhism are primarily personal religions, with mystical doctrines and a love of contemplation. Mohammedanism and Bolshevism are practical, social, unspiritual, concerned to win the empire of this world.” (Theory and practice of Bolshevism , 1921 Page 5, 29, and 114)
my contention has been that islam is not a “religion” but a separate ideology that is intent on doing great damage to secularism, democracy or any state institute it deems un-islamic. It should be deemed a threat to any government and its clerics should be either rounded up and imprisoned or at least monitored like we normally do with the mafia.
speaking of the mafia, I wonder if they Got the idea of offering “protection” to people through bribery from Islam’s “protective” tax called the Jizya. Give me money and we will protect you from ourselves. ( in other words we wont kill you if you pay us money and feel yourself subdued.
I pray musharref will continue to confront these fanatics and treat them with suspicion from now on at least.
July 10th, 2007 at 3:00 pmLadyAngler:
That’s a darn good question. Maybe J.O knows otherwise, but from my own study of the Koran, I see no reward in “Paradise(cough)” for females. The 72 virgins, 48 young men thing seems to be an “award”(cough again)
July 10th, 2007 at 4:36 pmgiven only to men. So I guess women are just SOL?
No Kipp. More like the retaking of the Federal Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, in 1859. Same kind of rebellion. Similar results: A dead rebellious, murdering, traitor.
July 10th, 2007 at 4:42 pmDan~ Yepper… that’ll make a girl wanna strap one on… a bomb that is. You filthy minded people. :shakin’ my head:
Well, sounds like the rewards for these women are endless. First you get to don a black burqa and sweat your azz off in one of the hottest regions on the planet, then you could get acid thrown in your face for not wanting to get with some douchebag, then get beat daily by your husband, then you get screwed in the afterlife. Yep, sounds almost awesome!
July 10th, 2007 at 5:19 pmLiar Liar
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x241/Egfrow/liarliar.jpg
July 10th, 2007 at 6:19 pmlady angler,
you mean you dont envy the liberated lady ninja’s?
your bodies are so awesome, that men cant control their lust and must rape you unless you cover yourself in a black sheet. Problem is even your eyes get ME horny!
Attention all rapists, to perfect your trade and live free of persecution do 2 things : convert to Islam then move to pakistan and rape any chich that is uncovered from head to toe. (as a side note be sure that that you dont have 4 men witnessing the act)
what does one conclude from all this? that men are truly descended from apes if we are unable to control our lusts at littlest sight of flesh, yet women are the ones compared to animals in the sunnah.
“treat women well for they are like domestic animals and own nothing for themselves” al tabari.
July 10th, 2007 at 6:56 pmThey burned tires in the road!!!!! WTF? Send E.L.F. and Greenpeace to rescue the environment. Just hope E.L.F and Greenpeace aren’t caught in the crossfire between the Pakis and ”Islamic victims of religious persecution”
July 10th, 2007 at 8:22 pmWow Dan,
You favor slaveholders to John Brown’s cause, despite how twisted he was? Interesting.
July 10th, 2007 at 8:48 pmGreat article with positive insight:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0711/p01s01-wosc.html?page=1
July 10th, 2007 at 8:55 pmKipp sez:
“Sounds like Pakistan’s version of Waco, Islam miltant style. Is that Janet Reno in that Burka?”
Nahhh, janet reno only kills and kidnaps Americans.
July 10th, 2007 at 9:22 pmI don’t see any similarities to anything else y’all experts in moral equivelancy may try to present. The waco in Waco had shot the sheriff. Unfortunately things got out of control. Something about gas ignited by fire or some shit. Play with fire you’re going to get burned. david koresh and those in the red mosk are dead. Good. We had something similar, but on a smaller scale here in Philadelphia back in the ’70s. MOVE, ring a bell? Bunch of ghetto savages setting up a “back to nature” thing in the middle of the city. Of course they were all on welfare. Started keeping up the neighborhood all night using electric megaphones telling them how they were all suckers for the man. This was when they were at 33d and Pearl and there were a lot of University of Pennsylvania students living in the neighborhood. They became the darlings of the students. The or gan i ZAE shun went into the seige mentality when after the utilities were turned off, including water, and they started shitting on the lawn they barricaded themselves in brandishing automatic weapons from atop the wall. Finally eviction day came along. They shot and killed a Philadelphia policeman. The city finally got them out. Their fearless leader john africa, they all used the last name africa, was hiding behind women and children. They tried to turn it into a race issue. They regrouped in a stable black working class neighborhood at 65th and Osage. Didn’t take long for them to start the same shit there. Can’t play the race card there. The neighborhood said to the city, ‘get these fucking nigers out of here’. Things got out of hand and the neighborhood got burned down. The city rebuilt the entire block, they all got brand new houses. No doubt the Pakistanis in the nieghborhood of the mosk said to the city, ‘get these fucking pakis out of here’. Sometimes ya’ gotta’ burn ‘em out.
July 11th, 2007 at 1:47 amKipp:
Wow Dan,
“You favor slaveholders to John Brown’s cause, despite how twisted he was? Interesting”
Wow Kipp, you truely are a fucking moron.
July 11th, 2007 at 8:47 amKipp:
My comparison was to a man(John Brown) who murdered hundreds of innocent people in an attempt to foment rebellion against the state. Many of his followers were killed at Harpers Ferry. John Brown got the hanging he so richly deserved. There is no comparison to Waco here.
Comparing one traitorous murderer to another is avalid juxtaposition.
Your view of that event(1859) is skewed and retarded.
July 11th, 2007 at 9:14 amCan’t expect anything less from a stupid ass liberal like you. Sell your agitprop elsewhere junior. Go back to your mommies basement. While you are at it, go buy a radon testing kit. Maybe getting rid of that radon problem will help with that brain synapse problem that you have.