Suicide attack at seminary kills JUI-S chief

NOWSHERA:

A suicide bomber ripped through the Darul Uloom Haqqania seminary in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Nowshera district, martyring JUI-S leader Maulana Hamidul Haq Haqqani and six others during Friday prayers, police and a government spokesman said.

K-P government spokesperson Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif confirmed that the head of the religious school was among those martyred. Maulana Hamidul Haq was the son of the late Maulana Samiul Haq, considered the father of the Taliban.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Over twenty people were badly wounded as the blast tore through the main prayer hall of the madrassa as worshippers gathered for Friday prayers. The condition of four were reported to be critical. A child and three policemen were among the injured.

According to witnesses, the blast occurred as people were leaving the seminary after offering the prayers. The blast left over forty people wounded including Maulana Haq, who along with three injured, rushed to the CMH Nowshera. Twenty-five people were rushed to the Qazi Hussain Ahmed Medical Complex, while two people were taken to district headquarter hospital.

The attacker, wearing an explosive-laden suicide vest, walked up to Haq as he was leaving a mosque on the premises of the seminary, his brother Maulana Abdul Haq told Reuters. “Maulana Hamid-ul-Haq… died on the spot and around two dozen people were injured in the blast,” he said.

Regional police officer Najeebur Rahman said earlier that several people were wounded.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the bombing, and expressed sorrow over Haq’s death, in a statement issued by his office.

Meanwhile, the Afghan Taliban condemned the suicide attack, calling the death of its leader, Hamidul Haq Haqqani, a “great loss for the scholarly community”.

In a statement, Hamdullah Fitrat, a deputy spokesman for the Taliban, denounced the attack and said, “May God take revenge for this heinous crime against scholars who are active in the region.”

Earlier, the Taliban’s embassy in Islamabad had also condemned the attack, calling it a “cowardly act”.

With additional input from Agencies and News Desk