Flee mosque or be killed, leader says

The followers of an Islamic cleric barricaded inside the besieged Lal Masjid mosque in Islamabad must surrender or face death, Pakistan’s president said in his first comments on the five-day standoff.

Commandos blasted holes in a perimeter wall early today in the hope that hundreds of women and children inside could escape. The unit commander was killed and two soldiers were wounded by gunfire from the compound, said military spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad.

President Pervez Musharraf said the government hoped to ensure the safety of noncombatants, but “those who are inside Lal Masjid should surrender, otherwise they will get killed.”

Troops surrounded the mosque and an adjoining women’s seminary after tensions between government forces and Islamic students erupted into street clashes Tuesday.