The Pakistani cleric Maulana Sami ul-Haq, who has been regarded as the Father of the Taliban, has been stabbed to death in the northern city of Rawalpindi on Friday.
As per the reports, Maulana was eliminated by an unknown gunman, saying he was stabbed to death while others say shot dead.
Maulana Sami ul-Haq headed the Haqqania madrassa in the north of Pakistan, where many Taliban members, including Mullah Omar, the group’s founder had studied.
About Friday’s attack –
There are still contradictory reports coming on how Haq was killed.
The influential religious leader’s son Maulana Hamid ul-Haq said that his father was stabbed multiple times with a knife in the house in Rawalpindi.
As per saying by Pakistan’s Geo TV, Maulana Hamid ul-Haq said, “He was resting in his room during Asr time when his driver-cum-guard went out for 15 minutes.”
“When he returned, he found Maulana Sami ul-Haq dead in his bed and his body covered in blood,” he added further.
Haq’s nephew Mohammad Bilal, meanwhile told that his uncle was found with stabbed and gunshot wounds.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Violence Qualms –
Recently, the officials had asked the cleric to help convince Taliban to begin peace negotiations.
He was a former Pakistani senator who ran a group of the religious Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party.
Also, he was close to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) party.
PM Khan who is currently on an official visit to Beijing, said in a statement that he condemned the killing and had ordered an investigation.
The cleric’s death comes at a time of turmoil in Pakistan when religious-political parties’ protests have broken out after the Supreme Court’s acquittal of a Christian woman sentenced to death in a blasphemy case.
