July 10, 2007:
At dawn, police attacked the Red
Mosque in Pakistan's capital. After five hours of fighting, about 70 percent of
the mosque complex was captured. Three security personnel were killed, along
with 41 Islamic militants. Another 51 militants were captured.
In northwest India, a police crackdown on tribal
separatists (many of whom have turned into ordinary gangsters) led to at least
five arrests.
July 9, 2007: The Red Mosque is believed to have
50-100 armed Islamic militants, many foreigners, inside. With them are several
hundred teenage religious students, many of them female. In northwest Pakistan,
the army has set up several checkpoints on the main roads, in response to
increased terrorist and Taliban activity in the area.
In eastern India, police fought a large battle with
Maoist rebels, killing at least twenty of them.
In Kashmir, Islamic terrorist fired a rifle grenade
into a political rally of a Moslem politician. Twenty people were injured.
July 8, 2007: Pakistan has told the Islamic
militants in the Red Mosque to surrender or die. The government believes the
militants still have several hundred women and children with them, to be used
as human shields. The militants deny this, but it does appear that many of the
militants are foreign Islamic terrorists.
Water and power have been cut off to the mosque complex. So far at least
twenty have died in the siege. Another
militant religious school in the capital was occupied by troops.
In northwestern Pakistan, gunmen attacked a Chinese
owned factory and killed three Chinese. This may just have been a robbery
attempt. In the last seven years, the Pakistani economy has boomed, and there's
a lot more to steal.
July 7, 2007: In Pakistan, president Musharraf has gained allies among the political parties
that usually oppose him. That's because
the siege of the Red Mosque has hurt the Islamic militants (who believe
democracy and political parties are un-Islamic), and shown the militants to be
more bark than bite. But the siege has got some militants enraged. Today,
police discovered three rifles, including two long range 14.5mm ones, on the
roof of a building near an airport used by Musharraf's aircraft. The weapons
did not have sufficient range to hit the Musharraf's aircraft. The president
was unharmed, but it is known that his movements are kept secret. So this
assassination attempt had the help of someone inside the government. Musharraf
has long known that many in the army and intelligence services back the Islamic
militants. But these radicals have to keep their heads down, because moderates
are in charge.
At the Red Mosque, militants inside fired at
security forces, as well as throwing grenades and gasoline bombs.
July 6, 2007: In Pakistan, one of the Red Mosques
captured leaders has been charged with kidnapping Chinese citizens last month,
an incident that led to the current siege. In Kashmir, nine Islamic terrorists
were killed, including four trying to cross the Pakistani border with a large
supply of weapons and explosives. Most of the terrorists fled back into
Pakistan, abandoning most of their loads. India has been getting large
quantities of sensors and night vision devices from Israel, as well as advice
on how to use them to close a border to Islamic terrorists.
July 5, 2007: Most of the students in Pakistan's
Red Mosque were allowed to leave. Some 1,200 have left, leaving at least a few
hundred still inside. Police blasted several holes in the mosque complex walls.
After a week, at least sixteen people have died in the siege, and nearly 200
have been wounded. There has not been a
public response to the militants call for an uprising, and public opinion
appears to back the governments "besiege and negotiate" strategy.
July 4, 2007: In the Pakistani capital, the siege
of Islamic militants in the "Red Mosque" continues, with both sides
hardening their positions. For several years, the government tolerated the
militants in the "Red Mosque,"
avoiding confrontation. But the militants interpreted this a weakness, and
escalated their activities. Earlier this year, the militants began using the
tactic of sending groups of teenage female students out to attack and close
down brothels and other activities considered "un-Islamic." Male
students at the large Mosque religious school also went about attacking
un-Islamic activity. The police were ordered to avoid a confrontation. But the
militants went too far when they attacked a Chinese run, and patronized,
massage parlor, and hauled off some Chinese citizens. Pakistan depends on
Chinese weapons and diplomacy to support its decades old struggle with India.
The Chinese complaints could not be ignored, and now the government is
determined to remove the militants from the Red Mosque. The militants are
defiant, calling for a mass uprising against the government, and vowing to
fight to the death. However, today one of the two militant leaders (who are
brothers) was arrested as he attempted to leave the mosque dressed as a woman.