Pakistani Judge To Probe 2007 Raid On Radical Mosque

Pakistani Army soldiers escort blindfolded, detained militants who were holed up in the Red Mosque in Islamabad on July 5, 2007.

Pakistan's highest court has appointed a judge to investigate the military's assault in 2007 on a radical mosque.

The storming of Islamabad's Red Mosque is widely seen to have intensified the antigovernment campaign waged by Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants.

A lawyer involved in a case, Tariq Asad, told the news agency AFP on December 4 that Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry ordered the probe after expressing dissatisfaction with the police investigation.

Chaudhry appointed senior Judge Shahzad Sheikh to a one-man commission and ordered police to assist his investigation.

More than 100 people died in the weeklong offensive against the Red Mosque in July 2007.

The military killed the leader of the uprising and demolished a girls' seminary and hostel next to the mosque.

Based on reporting by AFP and Tribune.com.pk