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ISLAMABAD: Security forces and militants at a radical mosque in the Pakistani capital exchanged increasingly intense gunfire on the fifth day of a siege on Saturday, witnesses and officials said.
"It is very intense firing. The government forces have retaliated after gunshots were fired from inside the mosque," a security official near the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, told AFP.
A source at the mosque said one student was killed in the battle lasting around an hour at lunchtime, and blamed Pakistani forces. The casualty claim could not be immediately confirmed by officials.
"They have unleashed very heavy gunfire on us and we are returning it in defence. One of our students has been shot and he is dead," Mohammad Shahzad told AFP by telephone from inside the mosque.
Heavy automatic weapons fire and hand grenade blasts could be heard in the background as he spoke.
The government security official said troops were showing restraint because of the presence of children and women in the complex "but they cannot allow the militants inside the mosque to keep targeting security forces".
- AFP/so
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