ISLAMABAD, July 11: The government’s spin doctors have been trying hard to make the people of Pakistan believe that the “Operation Silence” was a complete success, but in doing so they are only adding to the confusion as they have so far failed to give answers to some of the vital questions such as the number of casualties.

The much-awaited press briefing by two government spokesmen on Wednesday hardly provided any information and added to the confusion about important matters related to the operation.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad and Interior Ministry spokesman Brig (retired) Javed Iqbal Cheema surprised the journalists at the afternoon briefing by claiming that the operation was still continuing and, therefore, they could not tell the exact figures of casualties.

They also announced the cancellation of a scheduled media visit to the mosque complex and promised it to take place some time on Thursday morning.

The lack of replies from the two government functionaries to questions about the body of the mother of the killed rebel cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the whereabouts of his other family members and the presence of any foreign militants inside the complex at the time of the operation also created doubts in the minds of people who have been undergoing mental agony since the launch of the operation last week.

Delaying the media visit to the site fuelled speculation that the government was hiding some important facts about the incident. Replying to a question, Mr Cheema said the body of the mother of Maulana Ghazi had not yet been identified, only a day after the ISPR chief said no woman had been killed in the operation. Nobody made it clear whether there was only one woman’s body that the government had so far failed to ascertain it was Maulana Ghazi’s mother or there were more bodies of women who might have been killed there.

There were reports that parents of many children, who were inside the mosque and madressah complex at the time of the operation, had not found the names of their loved ones in the lists displayed at three Islamabad hospitals on the directive of the Supreme Court.

The ISPR chief also declined to give the exact number of militants and other hostages inside the complex. He has so far stated that 86 people surrendered on July 10 and 73 were killed while, according to his own estimate, there were some 150 to 250 militants and hostages inside the complex.

The government has so far failed to prove its earlier claims regarding the presence of foreign militants inside the mosque. Minister of State for Information Tariq Azeem, who was member of the negotiating team that had tried in vain for a peaceful end to the operation, told a news conference on Tuesday that Maulana Ghazi had conceded the presence of some foreign nationals inside the mosque at a time when they had almost reached an understanding.

Giving details of the events that unfolded before launching of the final assault on the militants in the early hours of Tuesday, the minister said the cleric used the term “package” for a deal and demanded a “blanket clemency” for all the people with him. However, the ISPR chief’s reply to a question on Wednesday about the presence of foreign nationals was that he could not say anything until the operation was complete.

The government is also unable to explain the role of Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil, an activist of banned Harkatul Mujahideen, in the whole crisis.

The maulana was brought to the Lal Masjid, according to Mr Azeem, on the request of Ghazi Abdul Rashid for negotiating a deal with the cleric.