By IANS
Islamabad : Parents of Jamia Hafsa students injured at the Lal Masjid clashes complained that they had wanted their daughters to return home, but the mosque's administration had not allowed them to leave.
Private TV channel Geo said Tuesday that parents thronged the mosque complex and hospitals here after word spread about the shootout between the students and militants on one side and the security forces on the other.
At least 12 people, including students, a journalist covering the event, a bystander and a businessman died and about 150 people were injured in the pitched battles that took place in the heart of the capital.
The TV channel said the parents were very upset over the situation and regretted the government's operation.
The parents said they had repeatedly requested the madrassa administration to send their daughters home but the faculty had refused to grant them leave.
The girls have been inside the mosque complex since February, when some of them occupied the library in the complex to protest the demolition of other mosques in the city.
The government had responded by setting up police pickets around the Lal Masjid complex.
A social worker who also met the injured students said the girls had wanted to leave for their homes but their teachers had ordered them to stay in the madrassa, Daily Times said.
The number of girl students at Jamia Hafsa is not known. But there were about 5,000 students in the complex Tuesday, including the girls from Jamia Hafsa and the boys from Jamia Fareedia.