CLICK HERE FOR VIDEOLal Masjid Deputy Administrator Abdul Rashid Ghazi has been killed in the Pakistan army's Operation Silence, in which 50 militants have been left dead so far, Geo TV has quoted Interior Ministry officials as saying.Updated at 1630 hrs: Pakistani troops stormed the Lal Masjid complex in Islamabad early this morning after talks with radicals to end the week-long standoff broke down, triggering a heavy gunbattle, which left 50 militants and eight security personnel dead.Heavy gunfire erupted and loud blasts were heard as Operation Silence was launched at 4 AM local time with commandos surrounding the mosque, where militants were believed to be holding 150 hostages, from three sides.Twenty children escaped as the operation started and were taken in the care of security forces. Fierce fighting raged at the religious school and library in the compound where hundreds of women and children were believed to be present.Deputy Administrator of the Masjid Abdul Rashid Ghazi and his supporters, who are believed to have taken shelter in the bunkers built in the basement of the mosque, are putting up a stiff resistance, Defence Ministry spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told reporters."The militants are using small arms and grenades. They are in the basement," he said adding "we are facing resistance from the basement. Such an operation could take three or four hours.""According to my information part of the mosque has been cleared but heavy fighting was on in the madrasa," he said.The militants are believed to be armed with machine guns, rocket launchers, hand grenades and petrol bombs.As the explosion began rocking the besieged mosque complex, Ghazi spoke briefly to TV channels and blamed the government for the failure of talks. (PTI)
