Commandos blast walls of Red Mosque

A rebel cleric said he and his fighters hoped their deaths would spark an Islamic revolution in Pakistan, as commandos blew holes in the walls of their besieged mosque compound to help women and children escape.

Troops have surrounded the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, in Islamabad since Tuesday when clashes between armed student radicals and government forces erupted after months of tension.

The death toll from the conflict rose to at least 21 when an officer was killed early yesterday as he led commandos in a raid to blow up the walls of a girls' religious school, or madrasa, in the compound.

Government and military officials say rebel cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi has 50 to 60 hard-core militants - some from groups linked to al Qaeda - leading the fighting, and hundreds of women and children hostages.

Mr Ghazi denies anyone is being used as a human shield. Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao said militants shot and wounded three students trying to get away yesterday. Occasional gunfire rang out during the day.

President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday gave the militants a "surrender-or-die" ultimatum.

Mr Ghazi has said he prefers "martyrdom". In a statement carried by yesterday's newspapers the cleric said he and his followers hoped their deaths would spark a revolution.

"We have firm belief in God that our blood will lead to a revolution," wrote Mr Ghazi. "God willing, Islamic revolution will be the destiny of this nation."

His Taliban-style movement reflects the militancy seeping into cities from tribal areas on the Afghan border.

Religious Affairs Minister Mohammad Ejaz-ul-Haq told a news conference Lal Masjid's defenders included "terrorists, militants, who are wanted within, and outside, the country".

Mr Ghazi has said he has nearly 2,000 followers with him. The minister put the number at 200 to 500.

Lal Masjid has been a hotbed of militancy for years, known for its support for Afghanistan's Taliban and opposition to General Musharraf's backing for the US-led campaign against terrorism. Security forces say they have refrained from mounting a full-scale assault because of fears for the women and children inside.

Troops have been blasting holes in the walls since Wednesday and conducted another breaching operation early yesterday.

About 1,200 students left the mosque after the clashes began but the number leaving has slowed to a trickle. Interior Minister Sherpao said five children got away yesterday.

While some women and children may have been forced to stay, women are among the most fervent supporters of Mr Ghazi and his elder brother Abdul Aziz, caught on Wednesday trying to escape.

Mr Ghazi told reporters more than 300 followers, most of them female, were killed overnight. The government said that was a lie.

An ambulance drove up to the compound and called repeatedly through a loudspeaker for any dead and wounded to be brought out but none came, an ambulance official said.

Water, gas and power has been cut and food is said to be running short.

Many Pakistanis support the action against the hardliners whose behaviour, including a vigilante campaign against perceived vice, has raised concern about the spread of militant Islam.

Islamist politicians have called for an end to the siege and for Mr Ghazi to release the women and children.

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Unidentified gunmen killed three Chinese workers and wounded one in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar yesterday, Pakistani police and officials said.

"As they were coming out of their factory, they were ambushed. We're gathering more details," a senior provincial government official said.

The four were working for a motorcyle company on the outskirts of Peshawar, making three-wheeled auto-rickshaws.

China is Pakistan's most steadfast ally and is involved in numerous development projects.

Last month, radical Islamist students based at an Islamabad mosque kidnapped six women and a man from China, whom the students said were involved in prostitution.