27 women, three children rescued from Pakistan mosque: army

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistani forces rescued 27 women and three children Tuesday from an Islamabad mosque where militants are battling troops, including the wife and daughter of mosque chief Abdul Aziz, the military said.

"We rescued them from the militants. There are three children with them. They were taken hostage by the militants but the troops managed to get them out," chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP.

"Among the women is Umme Hassan and her daughter," he said.
Hassan is the wife of Aziz -- who himself fled the Red Mosque on Wednesday while wearing a woman's burqa but was caught by security forces.

Hassan is the principal of Jamia Hafsa, the hardline girls' madrassa attached to the Red Mosque, whose students waged a Taliban-style anti-vice campaign in the capital.

The mosque leader's brother, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, is the firebrand cleric leading the militants still holed up in the complex.