Radical cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who led militants inside the pro-Taliban Lal Masjid in a tense week-long stand-off, was killed today with 88 of his associates when Pakistan troops stormed the premises to flush out heavily-armed hardliners holding women and children as hostages.

Twelve commandos were also killed during ‘Operation Silence’, launched at 4 am after talks with radicals failed.

Forty three-year-old Ghazi, younger brother of the captured Lal Masjid head Maulana Abdul Aziz, was killed by security forces in the basement after he refused to surrender, said Interior Ministry spokesman Brig Iqbal Cheema.

There were reports that Ghazi was holding women and children as human shields, some of whom were said to have been killed. Officials said Ghazi was shot in the leg and told to surrender but he refused.

The death toll crossed 100 as the operation continued with well-armed militants engaging troops in pitched battles, according to latest reports.

“Troops are involved in room-to-room fighting to take control of layers and layers of the sprawling complex, stretching to several acres,” in central Islamabad, Pakistan Army spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad said.

Umme-e Hassan, Ghazi’s sister-in-law and principal of the girls’ madrasa attached to the mosque, and her daughter Asma were taken into custody by troops who also rescued about 134 people. Ghazi had not even allowed his ailing mother to come out and undergo treatment, Arshad said, referring to Ghazi’s claim that she was killed during the operation.

Asked why the operation took so long, Arshad said troops followed a step-by-step approach to minimise casualties and avoid collateral damage. He denied reports that the army planned to use nerve gas against militants. Pakistan army, he said, had no stocks of nerve gas.

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