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Dozens of masked pro-Taliban fighters Sunday occupied a mosque in Pakistan's restive tribal areas and named it after Islamabad's Red Mosque or Lal Masjid, which was closed indefinitely last week by authorities after a suicide attack. The extremists who took control of the mosque in Ghazi village of tribal district Mohammand also announced to establish an Islamic seminary named after the female madrassa adjoining the Lal Masjid, Jamia Hafsa, residents said. The militants, armed with guns and rocket launchers, had taken positions in the courtyard and at the rooftop of the mosque, a local official said on condition of anonymity. The government sealed the Lal Masjid when a suicide bomber killed 15 people, including eight of policemen deployed to quell a rebellion by Islamic students at the mosque compound for several hours after it was reopened for midday Friday prayer. The mosque had been a scene of clashes earlier this month when a security operation was conducted after a five-month standoff with the Islamic students over their violent campaign to enforce Taliban-style, narrow Islamic law in Islamabad. The compound of Islamic seminary, Jamia Hafsa, was demolished following the military action, which claimed the lives of around 100 people. Extremists have launched a series of attacks in recent weeks to avenge the mosque operation, killing more than 200 people, many of them security personnel.
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