Journalists might be holed up inside mosque

Three journalists, two of them foreigners, were reportedly holed up in the Lal Masjid in Islamabad amidst the sporadic gun battles between the militant students and the paramilitary forces surrounding the mosque.

"There were believed to be still inside" the madrasa, the Daily Times reported.

The newspaper, however, has not identified them and it remained unclear whether they were still inside the complex.

The journalists had gone inside to interview burqa-clad girls students of the mosque.

Pakistani media personnel who enthusiastically covered the stand off from a close proximity also bore the brunt of it as one journalist was killed and several injured.

Javed Khan, a photojournalist, who worked for London-based Urdu channel DM Digital, was hit in the chest by a stray bullet and later died in hospital.

Cameraman Israr Ahmed of CNBC was hit with bullets in the back, stomach and hand and was rushed to Polyclinic hospital where doctors operated on him.

He was later shifted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences where doctors said his condition was still critical.

Wahab Saleem, photographer of The Post, and Raja Zafar, photographer of the Express, also sustained bullet wounds, while Absar Alam, bureau chief of Geo TV in Islamabad, was struck by a brick in the head.

Several other journalists sustained minor injuries due to teargas shelling.