Pakistani Troops Storm Mosque

Pakistani security forces stormed into the radical Red Mosque in central Islamabad early this morning in an operation to end a bloody week-long siege.

Gunfire and explosions echoed across the city from 4am local time (midnight BST) when special forces breached the mosque walls, hours after last-ditch peace negotiations collapsed.

Islamist militants holed up inside a basement bunker were offering "stiff resistance", fighting with guns, grenades and petrol bombs, said army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad.

"Those who surrender will be arrested, but the others will be treated as combatants and killed," he said.

Twenty children trapped inside the compound rushed towards the soldiers and were freed but the fate of hundreds more believed to be inside remained unknown.

A fleet of ambulances rushed towards the deserted streets surrounding the mosque, which have been under strict curfew since the confrontation erupted last Tuesday following months of tension between the pro-Taliban mosque militants and the government.

The assault was led by commandos from the army's special services group - which the president, General Pervez Musharraf, once commanded - supported by thousands of rangers and police.

At 6.50am a large explosion was heard across the city and smoke poured from the mosque roof. Television reports said that three commandos had been killed and nine critically injured.

Fears focused on the unarmed women and children who have been the focus of concern throughout the siege. The government has alleged that up to 450 women and children were being held hostage by the chief cleric, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, and a core of about 60 hardened militants leading the fight.

There was much speculation that the militants included foreign fighters with links to al-Qaida and veterans of combat in Afghanistan and Kashmir.

Mr Ghazi denied the human shield allegations and claimed that he had as many as 2,000 fervent supporters inside the mosque. All preferred to die than surrender, he said, and he hoped their deaths would spark an Islamic revolution in Pakistan.

The militants threatened to defend the compound with mass suicide bombings if attacked. But there were also reports that Mr Ghazi - who sought safe passage for himself and his elderly mother - had been usurped by the militants around him.

This morning Mr Ghazi told Geo TV that his mother had been wounded by gunshot. "The government is using full force. This is naked aggression," he said. "My martyrdom is certain now."

The pre-dawn raid was a risky gambit for Gen Musharraf, who throughout the crisis has had to weigh the benefits of proving his anti-terrorism credentials as an anti-extremist leader against the possible domestic backlash in the event of large-scale casualties.

Over the past six months the mosque had become a severe embarrassment to his government as radicalized students abducted suspected prostitutes and defied police as part of plan to force Sharia law on the residents of the capital.

Late last night there had been hopes that the standoff would reach a peaceful conclusion.

A delegation of 12 religious leaders headed by the politician Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain drove to the front door of the bullet-pocked mosque and started negotiations with Mr Ghazi, initially through a loudspeaker and then a telephone.

At about midnight Mr Shujaat brought a report on the talks to Gen Musharraf's army camp office in Rawalpindi.

Local media reported that Mr Ghazi was prepared to surrender if certain conditions were met.

But Gen Musharraf rejected the compromise, insisting that "the writ of government must come first", according to reports.

At least 24 people have been killed since fighting erupted a week ago.