Click to play videoNew Delhi: The stand-off between the government and radical clerics is continuing in Pakistan as security forces geared up for a major operation in Islamabad on Sunday night.
Ten thousand commandos have been deployed to rescue two policemen who are being held hostage in the Lal Masjid in Islamabad.
"Two policemen have been released, but two are still with them. We are keeping all options open and trying our level best to negotiate the release of the other two," IG Islamabad, Iftikar Ahmad Chaudhary, told CNN-IBN.
The government has declared an emergency in two major hospitals of the city. The traffic police have been given an alternate traffic plan for any emergency situation.
Security men believed to be sharp shooters have been posted at roofs of some buildings around, it said.
About a hundred students supporting radical clerics were seen guarding the mosque.
Bamboo wielding students took position in and around the mosque and a girls madrassa located near it and closed the road with barbed wire even as the mosque's loud speaker played songs related to jihad (holy war).
While most of the students were seen holding bamboo sticks, some preparing pickets on the buildings inside were carrying machine guns.
One of the clerics Abdul Rashid Ghazi announced that his students numbering several thousands would retaliate with suicide bombers if there was any action against them.
Madarsa students affiliated with the Lal Masjid had abducted four policemen on Friday. Two policemen were freed on Saturday, but two were held back by the students demanding the release of several arrested madarsa students.
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