The security forces forming the raiding party, which have been drawn from some of the most well-trained elite elements of thearmy, have not yet been able to acquire effective control of the Masjid and the madrasa for girls located inside its premises. While Ghazi has himself been killed along with over 40 of his male supporters during the prolonged exchange of fire lasting nearly 17 hours, there is an unestimated number of jihadis, who are still putting up a stiff resistance from the basement, where they have taken shelter.
Certain aspects of the operation do not reflect well on the leadership quality of President Musharraf with reference to this operation. Once a raid became unavoidable, one would have expected Musharraf to come to the front and explain to the people why the raid has become inevitable. He did not do so. Instead, he asked Shujjat Hussain to explain the reasons for the raid to the people so that if the raid turned out to be messy, the blame would not come on his shoulders. When Indira Gandhi ordered the Indianarmy into the Golden Temple at Amritsar in June 1984, she took the responsibility for the decision, right or wrong, on her shoulders and explained the reasons for her decision to the people of India in a televised address. Musharraf, on the contrary, has kept an escape route available for him so that if the raid turned out to be messy, he could put the blame on the civilian political leaders.
The second aspect not reflecting well on Musharraf's leadership quality is that while it is thearmy's elite units, which have gone into action, the army's GHQ (General Headquarters) has been trying to give the impression that the operation is being co-ordinated by theinterior ministry and not the GHQ and that the military units are merely assisting theinterior ministry and not playing a leadership role. Again, this is being done to save the reputation of thearmy should the raid turn out to be messy. This is likely to aggravate the divide between the military and the civilian bureaucracy, which is a defining characteristic of the Musharraf regime ever since he seized power in a coup in October,1999.