Several hundreds male and female students of two separate seminaries affiliated with the mosque are still inside the compound besieged by paramilitary troops on Tuesday morning. Ghazi offered he and his hardcore militant students were ready to leave if security forces ceased fire and did not arrest them.
But a spokesperson for interior ministry flatly rejected it and said those who are guilty of violating rules would be dealt according to the law. The government has already registered murder and arson cases against clerics and students of Lal Masjid.
Reconciliation efforts by some top politicians from the government and religious opposition parties did not yield results. Hopes are there though. Some mortars were fired and gunship helicopters kept on hovering over the buildings of mosque compound and religious colleges attached to it throughout the day and into the night.
Loud explosions were heard in most parts of Islamabad before dawn on Thursday morning once and in the afternoon then. Gun fires were also traded in regular intervals. Elite military commandos repositioned themselves closer to the mosque, taking advantage of smoke caused by shelling. Attacks damaged an outer wall of the complex.
Lal Masjid or Red Mosque and two affiliated religious schools-one each for males and females-have been at the heart of many confrontations for past six months. Clerics at the mosque and students at seminaries have for months been carrying out a self-styled anti vice campaign to enforce Islamic Sharia in Pakistan.
At least 24 people have so far been killed in three days of gun battles between security forces and defiant male students after months long stand-off exploded into violent clashes on Tuesday.
Interior ministry spokesperson said, at least 47 students were arrested when they tried to escape by jumping over a wall. Around 100 others surrendered taking the tally to 1,300 in two days. More than 1,200 female and male students fled the complex on Wednesday. Security forces let girls and minors go but said adults would have to face prosecution. They were taken to a jail in Rawalpindi.
Rangers arrested Lal Masjid Chief Cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz on Wednesday night when he attempted to escape in the disguise of a woman. He is the elder brother of Ghazi. He urged his followers inside the complex to give themselves up in an interview to state television later. It is not clear whether the message was delivered.
Maulana Abdul Aziz and Abdul Rashid Ghazi have allegedly been behind a string of kidnappings their students had carried out in the capital recently. Both Rashid and Aziz are sons of late Maulana Abdullah who was famous for his Taliban links in late 90s. The former chief cleric of Lal Masjid was shot dead few years back.
Security forces are moving ahead with a calculated approach because they want to save females and children inside the compound, officials claim. The government blames hardline Islamists have taken them hostage to use as human shield. Ghazi has denied charges. President General Pervez Musharraf has ordered commandos to act in such a way that minimum lives are lost, Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao says.