KABUL: A elderly Taliban clergyperson known for his fiery speeches against the militant Islamic State(IS) group and support for womanish education, was killed in a self-murder blast at his madressah in the Afghan capital on Thursday.
Rahimullah Haqqani, who had lately spoken intimately in favour of girls being allowed to attend academy, had survived at least two former assassination attempts including one in Pakistan in October 2020.
“ The madrassa of Sheikh Rahimullah was targeted moment and as a result he and one of his sisters were martyred, ” Kabul police spokesperson Khalid Zadran told AFP, adding that three others were wounded in the blast.
Government spokesperson Bilal Karimi verified Haqqani’s death “ in an attack carried out by a dastardly adversary ”, but didn’t offer farther details.
Despite participating the same name, the clergyperson wasn’t related to Afghanistan’s Haqqani militant group network.
Hours latterly, IS claimed the attack on its telegram channels, saying the bomber had exploded his explosive vest inside the clergyperson’s office.
still, Reuters claimed the bushwhacker exploded snares “ hidden in a plastic artificial leg ”, quoting officers and Taliban sources.
Four Taliban sources told Reuters the bushwhacker was someone who had preliminarily lost his leg and had hidden the snares in a plastic artificial leg.
“ We’re probing who this. person was and who had brought him to this important place to enter the particular office of Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani. It’s a veritably huge loss for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, ” said one elderly Taliban functionary of the interior ministry.
Haqqani was one of the most “ prominent lawyers for the Taliban and one of the biggest of them who incited to fight ” IS, jihadist monitoring group SITE said, rephrasing a statement from IS.
Taliban sources said that although he held no sanctioned position, Haqqani was an influential figure who had tutored numerous of the group’s members over the times.
Scores of Taliban officers took to social media to express their condolences.
“ You have fulfilled your responsibility. fortune can not be averted, but the Muslim community has been orphaned, ” twittered Mobin Khan, a former spokesperson for the Kabul police.
Haqqani was known for angry speeches against IS, that has claimed several attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s return to power in August last time.
In recent months, Haqqani also backed the right of girls to attend academy.
“ There’s no defense in Sharia to say womanish education isn’t allowed. No defense at each, ” he told the BBC in an interview in May.
He added “ All the religious books have stated womanish education is admissible and obligatory, because, for illustration, if a woman gets sick, in an Islamic terrain like Afghanistan or Pakistan, and needs treatment, it’s much better if she’s treated by a womanish croaker. ”
Since seizing power, the Taliban have assessed harsh restrictions on girls and women. They’ve not allowed secondary seminaries for girls to renew in utmost corridor of the country.
