Pakistan counted the human and political cost today of an armed assault that killed a rebel cleric and at least 50 Islamist fighters and eight soldiers at an Islamabad mosque after a week-long siege.
But the big question left hanging was whether any women or children said to have been at the mosque had been killed.
The final toll was still unknown as mopping up operations at the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, went on.
An occasional explosion rang out through the night from the mosque-school complex and several were heard shortly after dawn.
The cause of the blasts was not clear and military officials were not available for comment. Heavy security was still in place around the compound with reporters not allowed to approach and a curfew in the neighborhood.
A military spokesman said earlier there were certainly more than 50 militants killed.
"When the operation is finished we'll start picking up bodies," spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said late on Tuesday. He was more sure of casualties on the government side.
Eight soldiers were killed and 29 wounded in "Operation Silence", the codename for the final assault that raged from before dawn to after dusk.
High numbers of casualties, especially among women and children religious students based at the compound would be very bad for President Pervez Musharraf, who is going through arguably the worst patch of a roller-coaster eight years in power.