Ghazi claims 335 students killed

Lal Masjid raid looms as Ghazi claims '335 students killed'

The government on Sunday moved closer to a full-scale assault on militants barricaded in Lal Masjid, after a senior army commando was shot dead in fierce clashes.

The military said Colonel Haroon Islam died after an operation to blast through part of the wall surrounding the fortified Lal Masjid complex in a bid to free women and children allegedly being used as human shields.

Officials said the government was under pressure to end the six-day siege which has killed at least 24 people, as initial plaudits for its tough stance turned to questions about how long the stand-off could be allowed to last.

"The government may have to rethink its strategy in the light of the sad martyrdom of a senior army official and the resistance that has been shown by what appears to be highly trained militants," Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azeem told AFP.

President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz spoke by telephone on Sunday morning, after Musharraf attended the soldier's funeral, to weigh up the government's options.

"They have discussed how to bring the crisis to a swift end, including possible assault on the compound," a top official familiar with the issue told AFP.

"You are damned if you do, damned if you don't. It is a very precarious situation."

"Intelligence reports indicate the longer the siege goes on the greater the threat posed by the hardliners loyal to the Lal Masjid in other parts of the country," the top official said.

Security forces have held back from raiding the now bullet-pocked mosque but moved in closer early Sunday, when the giant blasts to knock down the wall echoed around the city.

Another three troops were wounded in the clashes and six men who tried to escape the compound after the explosions were arrested, officials said.

Ghazi told local television that 335 people inside the mosque were killed in Sunday's latest fighting but the government dismissed the claim as "laughable."

"We believe there are militants from Harkatul-Jihad-e-Islami, which was involved in the Pearl murder. Based on intelligence we suspect that two commanders from the group are in there," one senior official told AFP.

The militant in charge of the armed resistance is called Abu Zubair by his colleagues, the official said citing intelligence intercepts. He added that it was likely a codename.

"There are fears that the militants may start killing women and children inside and then blame it on the government. They know they have no escape route," a government official said on condition of anonymity.

Ghazi said he and his followers had enough rations, arms and ammunition inside the compound to "fight for another 25 to 30 days and we will do that, God willing."

Ghazi, 43, also signalled his defiance by saying that he was telephoned by a man who claimed to have shot at Musharraf's aircraft on Friday in revenge for the siege.

Security officials said earlier they were probing possible links between the mosque operation and the failed bid to shoot down the president's plane as it took off from Chaklala military airbase at Rawalpindi, near Islamabad.