July 04, 2007	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 18, 1428

ISLAMABAD, July 3: The Lal Masjid clash on Tuesday sent a large number of injured to the three state-run hospitals of the federal capital, hospital sources said.

A paramilitary soldier who was hit by a militant’s bullet became the first fatality of the incident.

A senior doctor at the Federal Government Services Hospital, who operated upon the critically injured soldier Lance Naik Mubarak Hussain, confirmed to Dawn that he had died. He said the victim was shot in the chest.

The nine dead also included a trader and a journalist. But hospital sources said the toll could rise as some of the injured were in critical condition.

A senior police official said three low-ranking personnel of the Islamabad police were among the injured and were being treated in hospitals. However, their conditions were stable.

The three government hospitals, the fire department and ambulance services were put on alert shortly after the trouble started outside the Lal Masjid.

A senior doctor at the CDA Hospital said about 40 injured — 18 with bullet wounds — were brought to the hospital. While 30 injured were treated at Pims.

Doctors at the FGSH said they had treated about 75 people, mostly affected by tear gas. Nearly 14 of the 75 injured had bullet injuries.

The injured said scores of people from the mosque and its surrounding areas had been affected by the tear gas.

Among the victims suffering from the effects of tear gas were girl students aged between 10 and 19 years.

The affected people admitted to hospitals were being guarded by the police. Women police have been deployed at the female wards.

Police sources said nearly 50 trouble makers have been arrested. Six of them were arrested from outside the Lal Mosque when the firing started from both sides.

A large number of traders staged a protest demonstration outside Pims against the death of a colleague who was injured in the shootout between the security forces and the students.