Troops deployed around Lal Masjid

Pakistan on Wednesday deployed paramilitary troops around the Lal Masjid here, hinting at a possible government offensive against its radical clerics and militant madrasa students involved in the recent kidnapping of seven Chinese nationals. About 1,000 rangers took positions around the mosque, following a government order, said sources. The clerics and the students of the madrasas attached to the mosque who have launched a moral policing drive, caused deep embarrassment to the Pakistani government by keeping the the Chinese employees, six women and a man, of a massage parlour in captivity for 15 hours on June 24 for “un-Islamic” acts.

China stresses citizens’s security in Pak

Beijing: Expressing serious concern over frequent terrorist attacks on Chinese nationals in Pakistan, Beijing has demanded “active measures” to prevent such incidents. The Chinese concerns were expressed by Minister of Public Security Zhou Yongkang here on Tuesday during a meeting with visiting Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, sources said. “We hope Pakistan will look into the terrorist attacks aiming at Chinese people and organisations as soon as possible and severely punish the criminals,” Zhou said.