Pakistani troops have stormed a mosque in Islamabad where a hard-line rebel cleric has led a standoff for the past week. Initial reports say about 50 militants and eight soldiers were killed. Up to 500 students, including women and children, are said to be trapped inside. Distraught parents have gathered near the mosque amidst the loud sounds of gunfire from inside the compound. Critics have faulted the Pakistani government for abandoning talks with the clerics. But military spokesperson Major-General Waheed Arshad said the raid would continue.

Major-General Waheed Arshad: “It is going to take some more time. Obviously it has not ended, and the end of the operation does not mean that fighting has solved and the operation is finished. Until the whole complex is cleared fully and it is sanitized, only then we term it as the operation has ended. So this will continue.”