Thu 5 Jul 2007
News > Video
Red Mosque siege continues http://www.reuters.com/news/video/videoStory?videoId=59088
Jul. 5 - Pakistani security forces set up road blocks and fire a series of 'warning blasts' near Islamabad's Red Mosque to step up pressure on hundreds of militant students.
Abdul Aziz, the leader of the mosque's Taliban-style student movement who was arrested on Wednesday, said there were 850 students still inside the mosque including women and children.
Before dawn, security forces attempted to increase pressure on the hold-outs to surrender by firing a series of 'warning blasts'.
The blasts were followed by a loudspeaker announcement calling on students inside to give up.
The mosque has a long history of support for militancy but the latest trouble began in January when students occupied a library to protest against the destruction of mosques illegally built on state land.
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