Children used as shields at Pakistan mosque
Militants who took control over a mosque in Islamabad are using women and children as human shields, the Pakistan government said Thursday. The government has been putting pressure on the hundreds of people inside to surrender since militant students took over the Red Mosque. The students who took over the mosque demanded Sharia, or Islamic Law. The students are blamed for recent kidnappings, including those of civilians, Chinese nationals and Pakistani police.
The student militants' leader was caught trying to escape wearing a woman's burqa. Cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz said that 850 students remained inside the mosque, including 600 women and girls. Aziz said that they were not being used as shields and chose to stay. He also appealed to the students to either leave the mosque if possible or surrender.
Pakistan's Deputy Information Minister Tariq Aziz Khan said that people who have surrended have said they were telling women and children inside that as long as the women and children were inside, the army would not attack the militants.
According to Ahmed Aftab Khan Sherpao, Pakistan's interior minister, there are 50 or 60 militants inside who are armed with weapons, grenades and petrol bombs.
Police and soldiers have surrounded the mosque and imposed an in definite curfew surrounding the area. Supplies to the mosque have also been cut off.
The story was covered by both Reuters and CNN. The stories were almost identical in content and differed only slightly in style. The only major difference that helped the Reuters story was the background information that explained why the Pakistan government into action against the mosque.