Siege of Lal Masjid

Conflict	Siege of Lal Masjid
Partof	War in North-West Pakistan; War on Terror
Caption	An explosion at Lal Masjid set off by the Pakistan Army
Place	Lal Masjid, Islamabad, Pakistan
Casus	Ransacking and burning of Ministry of Environment building in Islamabad by Red Mosque students.
Date	July 3, 2007 – July 11, 2007
Result	Army takeover of complex.
Combatant1	Pakistan
Combatant2	Islamic students Taliban
Commander1	Lt.Col. Haroon-ul-Islam
Commander3	Abdul Rashid Ghazi Abdul Aziz Ghazi
Strength1	60,000 soldiers and Rangers164 SSG commandos
Strength2	1,300 students100+ militants
Casualties1	11 killed44 wounded
Casualties2	84 killed50 captured
Casualties3	14 civilians killed

The siege of Lal Masjid (Urdu: , code-named Operation Sunrise) was a confrontation in July 2007 between Islamic fundamentalist militants and the Government of Pakistan led by General Pervez Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz Administration, then Prime minister of Pakistan. The focal points of the operation were the Lal Masjid ("Red Mosque") and the Jamia Hafsa madrasah complex in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Since January 2006, Lal Masjid and the adjacent Jamia Hafsa madrasah had been operated by Islamic militants led by two brothers, Maulana Abdul Aziz and Abdul Rashid Ghazi. This organization supported the imposition of Sharia (Islamic religious law) in Pakistan and openly called for the overthrow of the Pakistani government, led by its President Pervez Musharraf. Lal Masjid was in constant conflict with authorities in Islamabad for 18 months prior to the military operation. They engaged in violent demonstrations, destruction of property, kidnapping, arson, and armed clashes with authorities. After Lal Masjid militants set fire to the Ministry of Environment building and attacked the Army Rangers who guarded it, the military responded, and the siege of the Lal Masjid complex began.

The complex was besieged from July 3 to July 11, 2007, while negotiations were attempted between the militants and the state's Shujaat Hussain and Ijaz-ul-Haq. Once negotiations failed, the complex was stormed and captured by the Pakistan Army's Special Service Group. The conflict resulted in 154 deaths, and 50 militants were captured. The assault resulted in pro-Taliban rebels along the Afghanistan border nullifying a 10-month-old peace agreement with the Pakistani Government. This event triggered the Third Waziristan War, which marked another surge in militancy and violence in Pakistan and has resulted in more than 3,000 casualties.

Background

Prior to 2006

The Lal Masjid was founded by Maulana Qari Abdullah in 1965. In English, Lal Masjid means the "Red Mosque", and the name is derived from the red color of the mosque's walls and interiors. Abdullah taught radical Islam and preached Jihad during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Since its founding, Lal Masjid was frequented by leaders of the Pakistani military and government. Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the Army Chief of Staff who later became president after seizing power in a coup d'état in 1977, was a close associate of Abdullah's. The mosque is located near the headquarters of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and several staff members were known to go there for prayers. Students were taught general subjects, including mathematics and geography but were not tested on these subjects; the only exams were on religious subjects.

After 2006

During 2006 and the first half of 2007, students and mosque leaders continued to challenge the Pakistani government's authority by calling for Islamic law and to end cooperation with the United States. They launched an anti-vice campaign, kidnapping alleged prostitutes and burning films. Most students in the mosque were from the North-West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan.

A confrontation took place when the mosque launched a campaign against the demolition of mosques in Islamabad by the Capital Development Authority. After an illegally constructed mosque was destroyed, students of the seminaries launched an all-out campaign against the government. They blocked authorities from reaching the site and then occupied a nearby children's library building. This was carried out primarily by the female students.

Students continued to occupy the library and challenge governmental control by raiding a brothel.

Timeline

Siege

On July 3, 2007, a battle erupted between Pakistani security forces and students of Lal Masjid when Jamia Hafsa students stole radio sets and weapons from the Pakistan Rangers at a nearby post. Riot police fired tear gas to disperse the students. About 150 Lal Masjid students attacked the Ministry of Environment office building, setting fire to it and several vehicles in the area. Fighting continued, leaving nine people dead and approximately 150 injured. Among the dead were four mosque students, a TV news channel cameraman, a businessman, and a pedestrian. Within minutes, security forces closed off the area, and the capital's hospitals declared an emergency. Sporadic clashes continued as Pakistan Army troops deployed into the area.

The next day, authorities announced an indefinite curfew in Sector G-6 of Islamabad, where Lal Masjid is located. The army received orders to shoot anyone leaving the mosque with weapons. The government offered Rs. 5,000 (equivalent to $83 USDs or $41 GBP), plus a free education, to anyone exiting the mosque unarmed.

Before dawn on July 5, Pakistani troops set off a series of explosions around the mosque. Gunfire was exchanged throughout the day, but open clashes apparently stopped. Deadline extensions continued on July 5, with the government planning to evacuate the mosque and Jamia Hafsa before the final assault. Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Sherpao announced at a press conference that the government believed that between 300 to 400 students remained in the mosque, and only 50 to 60 were considered to be militants.

Abdul Aziz's younger brother, Ghazi Abdul Rashid, had been negotiating with a government mediator. He claimed that the remaining students were willing leave the mosque and lay down their arms, provided the government would grant them amnesty and not fire on them. Government officials were skeptical that Abdul Rashid would honor this agreement.

Pakistani commandos raided the outer perimeter of the compound, blasting holes through the walls of the mosque in order to allow trapped women and children to escape. The assaults began shortly after 1:00 am (20:00 GMT) on July 7 and were met with heavy armed resistance. However, the commandos succeeded, and the boundary wall of Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa collapsed. Abdul Rashid Ghazi said they would not surrender and that they had sufficient ammunition and rations to last a month.

On July 9, a group representing Pakistani madrasahs, headed by Maulana Salimullah Khan, called for an immediate cessation of the Lal Masjid operation. Finland also temporarily closed its embassy in Islamabad on July 9 due to the deteriorating security situation and the proximity of the embassy to the mosque compound. By July 10, the Pakistani government reported that 100 militants and between 300 to 400 women and children remained inside the mosque.

Attack on Musharraf's plane

On Friday, July 6, President General Musharraf left for the flood-affected areas of Balochistan. As the president's plane took off from the Islamabad airport, militants fired anti-aircraft weapons at it from the roof of a house in the Asghar Mall area of Rawalpindi. Security forces had the images taken to study the claims of Ghazi Abdul Rashid regarding casualties and damage caused to Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa. and assaulted it from three directions at 4:00 am (23:00 GMT). The forces immediately came under gunfire from heavily armed militants hunkered down behind sandbagged positions on the roof and from holes in the walls of the mosque. The SSG quickly cleared the mosque's ground floor, amid explosions coming from the mosque. About 30 women and children ran toward the advancing SSG operators and managed to escape unharmed. The SSG suffered most of their casualties during this phase of the operation. The standoff continued, as heavily armed militants had retreated into the basement using women and children as human shields, according to the Pakistan Army spokesman. The militants in the basement resisted with machine guns, shoulder-fired rockets, and Molotov cocktails. In a last interview with Geo TV during the operation, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who was hunkered down in the basement, claimed that his mother had been wounded by gunfire and was quoted as saying, "The government is using full force. This is naked aggression... my murder is certain now." Ghazi also claimed that 30 rebels were still battling Pakistani troops, but they only had 14 AK-47s.

Militants continued to fire at the SSG commandos from ventilation grilles in the basement. The fighting continued until all the personnel trapped in the basement either surrendered or were killed.

Behind an Army cordon, emergency workers waited for clearance to enter Lal Masjid. Female police officers were present to handle female survivors and casualties. Relatives of the militants inside the Lal Masjid were also outside the cordon. The Associated Press reported: "The siege has given the neighborhood the look of a war zone", with troops manning machine guns behind sandbagged posts and from the top of armored vehicles.

Mosque secured

On July 11, officials reported that the Lal Masjid complex had been cleared of militants, and troops were combing the area for booby traps and explosives. The eight-day Lal Masjid operation was the longest ever conducted by the SSG.

Intelligence agencies expressed shock at the highly sophisticated weapons that the militants in the Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa compound had, and began an investigation into where the equipment came from. Pakistan Army spokesman Waheed Arshad said that a suicide bomber had detonated himself in the mosque located at the opposite side of the complex to the seminary.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) reported that from July 3 until July 11, 1,096 people, 628 men, 465 women, and 3 children left or were rescued from the complex. The IGP also confirmed that 102 people were killed during the operation: 91 militants, 10 SSG commandos, and 1 Ranger soldier. This includes the sixteen dead on July 10. A total of 248 people were injured, including 204 civilians, 41 army soldiers, and 3 Rangers. Seventy-five bodies were recovered from the premises after the operation. He also said 39 of those rescued were under the age of eighteen. An article in The Nation, cited a grave digger at the cemetery where the bodies were being buried, who claimed there was the possibility that there may have been more than one body in each coffin. The article also stated that the government was digging more graves than previously established. The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, a coalition of hard-line religious parties, claimed that between 400 to 1,000 had been students killed, along with women and children. Spanish-language news channels Univision, Antena 3, and Telecinco claimed that the total number of deaths in the siege was greater than 286 and could be as high as 300.

Pakistani investigators probing links between Lal Masjid and terrorists have discovered the enrollment registers listing the students who studied at the seminary. The investigators believe the information, found in the Jamia Hafsa complex, will help clarify the number of people killed or missing in the operation. and on July 27, the mosque was reopened to the public. However, the Jamia Hafsa complex was demolished, as it was illegally constructed and in danger of collapsing.

Al-Qaeda and foreign fighters

Pakistani intelligence officials said they found letters from Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, after taking control of Lal Masjid. They were written to Abdul Rashid Ghazi and Abdul Aziz Ghazi, directing the brothers and militants to conduct an armed revolt. Government sources believe that as many as 18 foreign fighters from Uzbekistan, Egypt, and Afghanistan had arrived weeks before the final confrontation and established firing ranges to teach the students, including children, how to handle weapons properly.

Al-Qaeda's second-in-command, al-Zawahiri, issued a videotape on July 11, 2007, calling for Pakistanis to join jihad in revenge for the attack by the Pakistan's Army on the mosque.

Reactions

Pakistani public

Although many Pakistanis were silent about the operation against Lal Masjid, most agreed with the government's decision to take action. While hardliners have been able to stir up anger every time Musharraf moves against militants, most people have been tolerant and oppose the militant desire to impose their interpretation of Islamic law. Dawn supported the government's actions against Lal Masjid but questioned "how the intelligence agencies failed to get wind of the goings-on in the Lal Masjid and the stockpiling of arms and ammunition in such large quantities."

The Daily Times also supported the government's position and added, "Let us be clear. No government can violate the universal principle of 'no negotiation with terrorists' and live to be praised."

The Pakistan Observer praised the government: "The Government deserves credit for showing remarkable tolerance and patience and exhausted all possible avenues for peaceful settlement of the nerve-shattering crisis". The Chinese Minister of Public Security, Zhou Yongkang Zhou, referred explicitly to the Lal Masjid militants as terrorists and demanded that Pakistan act more forcefully to protect Chinese nationals working in the country.

United States President George W. Bush gave his support to Musharraf as "a strong ally in the war against these extremists." State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey noted that the militants had been given many warnings before the commandos moved on the Red Mosque. He said, "The government of Pakistan has proceeded in a responsible way. All governments have a responsibility to preserve order." Bryan D. Hunt, of the United States' consulate in Lahore, was quoted as saying that the American government supported the Pakistani government and that "the militants were given many warnings but instead of surrendering they decided to fight and challenge the writ of government." Religious parties and figures criticized the support extended by the U.S. consular official and demanded that the government expel him for interfering in Pakistan’s internal affairs. A Pakistani Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam characterized the U.S. consulate official’s statement as contrary to diplomatic norms, and open interference in the country’s internal affairs. She said a protest would be lodged.

India, which has fought three wars with Pakistan, did not officially give any reaction or comments on the Lal Masjid issue. It provided indirect encouragement to Pakistan and supports Pakistan's willingness to fight terrorism.

Aftermath

On August 16, 2007, acting on a suo motu notice, the Supreme Court of Pakistan took up the extrajudicial killings of the people at the Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa complex. Performance of the Islamabad administration attracted the reprimand of the court for its slow pace. The court was informed that 61 students were in custody, of whom 39 were on bailable offenses. The Chief Justice of Pakistan ordered immediate release of 20 people considered innocent, as recommended by a joint investigation team. National Crisis Management Cell Director Javed Iqbal Cheema told the court that 28 DNA tests had not been confirmed. The Chief Justice also pointed out that Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Ali had stated that 30 bodies remained unidentified.

Mohammed Ahsan Bhoon, president of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, said, "This issue could have been resolved through negotiations but General Musharraf intentionally spilled the blood of innocent people to please his foreign masters." Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim said that the Lal Masjid assault had sent a strong message that the government "meant business."

The bodies of seventy militants from the Lal Masjid operation were buried in a graveyard near Islamabad.

See also

Lal Masjid

War in North-West Pakistan

Grand Mosque Seizure, similar event in Saudi Arabia regarding the siege of Masjid al-Haram

Operation Bluestar, similar event in India regarding the siege of Amritsar

Waco Siege, similar event in the U.S.

References

External links

Lal Masjid Official WebSite

Jamia Hafsa Official WebSite

Lal Masjid Forum

Category:2007 in Pakistan Category:Al-Qaeda activities Operation Sunrise Category:Conflicts in 2007 Category:History of Islamabad Category:Military history of Pakistan Category:Islamism in Pakistan Category:Islamism Category:Protests Category:Massacres in places of worship