At 4am on Tuesday Pakistani troops put so called "Operation Silence" into action when they stormed the Red Mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan, resulting in vicious fighting in which 40 militants and 3 soldiers were killed.
The week long deadlock began when Cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi locked himself and a gang of militants into the Red Mosque, taking over 150 hostages, including women and children, and using them as human shields.
The Pakistani troops were left with no choice other than to raid the mosque, when the threat of the militants using suicide bombs became too great and talks for some kind of agreement broke down. It was thought by military officials that the siege could be ended within two to four hours but in actual fact the fighting lasted for 10 hours and over 40 people were killed, with dozens more injured.
The mosque has been known to house extremists in the past and the Pakistani government has been in conflict with the mosque's pro-Taliban leaders for some time. Although the conflict has been ended for now, it remains to be seen what backlash will result from this, and this storming could have long term implications that could be damaging to the Pakistani government in the future.