July 13, 2007	Friday	Jamadi-us-Sani 27, 1428

MIANWALI, July 12: Law enforcement agencies raided the Jamia Khadija Tul Kubra seminary near Jano Khel village, Dher Umaid Ali Shah union council, some 25 kilometer from here.

Reports said that Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who was killed in an army operation, and his brother Maulana Abdul

Aziz of the Lal Masjid, Islamabad, used to patronize the seminary.

A retired admiral of the Pakistan Navy had set up the seminary which is located some three kilometre from Mianwali-Bannu Road in the salt mountain range.

Local people said that army personnel had frisked away some people supposed to be the guards of the seminary.

It was learnt that all the women students, none of them belonging to the local area, had been shifted to some unknown place about 10 days ago when the situation started worsening at Lal Masjid in Islamabad.

Armed guards had never allowed the local people to approach the seminary which is set up on the foot of the mountain, hardly visible because of tall trees surrounding it from all sides.

A local person, on the condition of anonymity, told this correspondent that the seminary, now looks deserted, had been functioning since mid 90s.

Another person said that a signboard installed on Mianwali-Bannu Road, mentioning the Ghazi Brothers as patrons of the seminary, had been removed a few days back.

Daudkhel SHO Malik Muhammad Usman said he was unaware about any raid on the seminary, as according to him, an English medium school had been set up after the closure of the seminary some time back.

A police source, however, confirmed the raid on the seminary.