Islamabad: Intense gunbattles followed by heavy explosions erupted again on Friday evening between militants holed up inside the Lal Masjid and security forces surrounding it as the leading cleric of the mosque reversed his offer for conditional surrender on the fourth day of the stand-off.
The exchange of fire between the two sides came after a 10-hour lull as two heavy explosions, which took place in succession around 1900 hrs IST, rocked the girls' madrassa attached to the besieged mosque.
Such was the intensity of the explosions that concrete from a portion of the three-storied madrassa went several metres into the sky, and the thick clouds of smoke formed after the blasts could be seen from far-off places. A part of the madrassa building, which till recent times housed several thousand girl students, collapsed due to explosions.
There were also reports that foreign-origin al-Qaeda militants took control of the resistance from the mosque's deputy head Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who declared that he would rather die than surrender. He had earlier expressed his willingness to give himself up with some pre-conditions.
Addressing a press conference with Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani, Interior Secretary Sayed Kamal Shah said the presence of foreign militants within the mosque could not be ruled out.
The level of resistance mounted by the remaining hardcore militants raised suspicions that foreign militants of al Qaeda and their local associates had taken over the leadership of the resistance from Ghazi, Shah said.
Military officials at the site said the explosions were carried out by special commando troops to pave the way for a possible raid on the complex later in the night. The massive mobilisation of security personnel and equipment around the mosque, which followed the explosions, gave an impression that the troops were planning to storm the complex sometime on Friday night.
The firing erupted as two young girls aged 12 and 14 attempted to flee the complex were shot dead reportedly from the firing within. Well before the siege of the mosque began, President Pervez Musharraf said militants from the banned Jaish-e-Muhammad were present in the Masjid complex.
Some of those who surrendered said heavily-armed militants who covered their faces spoke foreign languages other than Urdu and Pushto, the local languages.
Some even identified the language the militants conversed in Arabic. The dogged resistance which surprised even the security specialists, made them to even speculate that Ghazi has been taken into custody by the militants who were believed to have taken the command of the resistance.
Shah said several of those surrendered have complained that the militants were preventing women and children from leaving the complex and even fired at some of the parents who had gone inside the mosque.
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