A radical cleric whose besieged mosque sought to impose strict Islamic morality on the Pakistani capital was killed in today's raid after he refused to respond to troops who demanded his surrender.
A man is treated for his injuries after the Red Mosque was stormed by Pakistani commandos
About 50 militants and eight soldiers died when the military stormed the sprawling Red Mosque compound.
Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the public face of the pro-Taliban mosque that challenged the government's writ in Islamabad, had vowed to die rather than give himself up.
An army official said Ghazi had received bullet wounds and when he was told to surrender, he gave no reply. Commandos then fired another volley of bullets and found Ghazi dead, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media.
Javed Iqbal Cheema, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, confirmed Ghazi's death and said the cleric's body was still lying in the compound, and that "battle hardened" militants were defending themselves.
The assault to end a week-long standoff at Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, was still in progress 10 hours after it began.
"There is intense engagement . . . militants are taking positions in almost every room, they're fighting from room to room, they have positions in the basement, on the stairs," said the military spokesman.
He said there were more than 70 rooms and the basements in the mosque-school complex, and that the militants were armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades.
With more than two-thirds of the mosque-school complex secured, some 30 children and 24 women had managed to get out. It was unclear how many more women and children remained in the complex.
The Lal Masjid, a centre of militancy for years, is known for its support for Afghanistan's Taliban and opposition to President Musharraf's backing for the United States.
In the first hours, the militants put up strong resistance, with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades. Soldiers came under fire from minarets as they overran the mosque at the beginning of the assault, allowing 20 children to escape.
After clearing the mosque, commandos, backed by paramilitary troops, swept resistance from the rooftop of the madrasa and worked they way down through the two-storey building.
Explosions and sustained gunfire erupted immediately after talks to end a week-long standoff broke down.