Siege of Lal Masjid - Timeline - The Assault - Final Stand

Final Stand

Arshad said troops had secured 80 percent of the complex and were moving slowly, as the resistance was intense in the remaining areas. 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. During the firefight, Abdul Rashid Ghazi was shot in the leg and was asked to surrender. However, militants in the room fired back at the SSG, and Ghazi was killed in the crossfire. Other reports say that Ghazi came out of a bunker to surrender, only to be shot by his own forces. 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.