Deadly Blast in Pakistan Mosque Claims Prominent Cleric and Four Others
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - A suicide bomber blew himself up after walking into a mosque within a pro-Taliban seminary in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing a top cleric and four other worshippers and wounding dozens of others ahead of the fasting month of Ramadan, according to local police. The blast occurred in Akora Khattak, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, district police chief Abdul Rashid said. He said Hamidul Haq, who is the head of a faction of the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI) party, is also among the dead. Rashid said officers transported the wounded to hospitals. The slain cleric Haq is the son of Maulana Samiul Haq, known as the "father of the Taliban,' who was killed in a knife attack at his home in 2018. Haq's family confirmed he was killed in Friday's attack and appealed to his followers to remain peaceful. Haq was also in charge of the Jamia Haqqania seminary, where many Afghan Taliban had studied in the past two decades. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack and ordered authorities to provide the best possible treatment to the wounded. Zulfiqar Hameed, the provincial police chief, said Haq was the target of the suicide bombing.
No group has immediately claimed responsibility. The attack came ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to start either on Saturday or Sunday subject to the sighting of the crescent moon. Hameed, the provincial police chief, said more than a dozen police officers were guarding the mosque when the attack occurred, and Haq's seminary also had its own security. Pakistan has witnessed a surge in attacks in recent years. As many as 101 people, mostly police officers, were killed in 2023 when a suicide attack targeted a mosque in Peshawar, the capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Pakistani authorities have blamed the Pakistani Taliban, who are known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, for the previous most of the attacks.
The TTP never claimed attacks on mosques, saying it does not target places of worship. The TTP is a separate group but an ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war. Many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuary and have even been living openly in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, which also emboldened the Pakistani Taliban. Also on Friday, a roadside bomb exploded near a vehicle carrying security forces in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, wounding 10 people, including two troops, police and officials said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, but previous attacks have been blamed on separatists. Quetta is the capital of Balochistan, which has for years been the scene of a long-running insurgency. Separatists want independence from the central government in Islamabad. Although Pakistan says it has quelled the insurgency, violence in Baluchistan has persisted.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab Times
2 days ago
- Arab Times
Bruce Springsteen's Berlin concert echoes with history and a stark warning
BERLIN, June 12, (AP): Veteran rock star Bruce Springsteen, a high-profile critic of President Donald Trump, slammed the U.S. administration as "corrupt, incompetent and treasonous' during a concert Wednesday in Berlin. He was addressing tens of thousands of fans at a stadium built for the 1936 Olympic Games that still bears the scars of World War II and contains relics from the country's dark Nazi past. "Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experiment to rise with us, raise your voices, stand with us against authoritarianism, and let freedom reign,' he said. Springsteen has made increasingly pointed and contentious public statements in recent concerts. He peppered Wednesday's performance with mentions of the American democracy's system of checks and balances designed to ward against authoritarianism. His short speeches - referencing recent headlines about immigration raids, the freezing of federal funds for universities, and measles outbreaks - came between songs that were also captioned in German on large screens beside the stage. The set was flanked by an American flag on one side and a German flag on the other. Still, the Boss remained hopeful: "The America that I've sung to you about for the past 50 years of my life is real. And regardless of its many faults, it's a great country with great people. And we will survive this moment.' But last month in Manchester, he denounced Trump's politics during a concert, calling him an "unfit president' leading a "rogue government' of people who have "no concern or idea for what it means to be deeply American.' Springsteen is no stranger to Berlin. In July 1988, he became one of the first Western musicians to perform in East Germany, performing to a roaring crowd of 160,000 East Germans yearning for American rock 'n' roll and the freedom it represented to the youth living under the crumbling communist regime. "I'm not here for or against any government. I've come to play rock 'n' roll for you in the hope that one day all the barriers will be torn down,' Springsteen said in German at the time, before launching into a cover of Bob Dylan's "Chimes of Freedom.' An Associated Press news story from that period says "fireworks streaked through the sky' and hundreds of people in the audience waved handmade American flags as they sang along to "Born in the USA.' The Berlin Wall fell the following year, and some experts credit the concert for its part in fueling the protest movement that brought the end of the Communist government. Almost four decades later, Springsteen issued a stark warning: "The America that I love, the America that I've sung to you about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration."
Arab Times
2 days ago
- Arab Times
Gang violence displaced record 1.3 million people in Haiti, UN report finds
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, June 12, (AP): Gang violence has displaced a record 1.3 million people across Haiti as the local government and international community struggle to contain the spiraling crisis, according to a new report released Wednesday. The UN's International Organization for Migration warned of a 24% increase in displaced people since December, with gunmen now having chased 11% of Haiti's nearly 12 million inhabitants from their home. Much of the gang violence remains centered in Port-au-Prince, but more than 230,000 people alone have been left homeless as gunmen continue to lay siege in the two largest regions north of the capital, officials said. "We need to act urgently. The strength of the Haitian people is humbling, but resilience cannot be their only refuge,' Amy Pope, IOM's director general, said in a statement. The number of makeshift shelters also has skyrocketed by more than 70%, from 142 to 246, with much of the increase reported in Haiti's once peaceful central region. The IOM noted that for the first time, regions outside Port-au-Prince have more shelters than the capital, given the ongoing violence in towns like Mirebalais and Petite Rivière. Overall, more than 80% of those displaced are staying with friends or family, although in Port-au-Prince, the majority of those displaced are staying in crowded and unsanitary makeshift shelters that include abandoned government buildings. "Many now face life without access to health care, schools, and clean water, leaving already vulnerable families struggling to survive,' according to the IOM. Hours after the report was released, officials with the UN, the Inter American Development Bank and Haiti's government and civil society gathered behind closed doors to talk about the situation. "The crisis…is only getting worse,' Bob Rae, president of the U.N.'s Economic and Social Council, said ahead of the meeting. He and other officials said it's not enough to only tackle Haiti's security crisis. Gangs that control at least 85% of Port-au-Prince are recruiting a growing number of children in the deeply impoverished country.
Arab Times
2 days ago
- Arab Times
Third suspect detained on suspicion of planning an attack in northeastern Poland
WARSAW, Poland, June 12, (AP): Polish security services have detained a 19-year-old man suspected of planning a terrorist attack, marking the third arrest in an ongoing investigation in the northeastern city of Olsztyn, a government official said Thursday. The Internal Security Agency said the suspect, along with two others previously arrested, had gathered extensive materials related to firearms use, combat tactics, and explosive devices. Prosecutors allege the group trained at shooting ranges and conducted paramilitary-style drills. Investigators believe the suspects were influenced by mass killers, including Anders Breivik, Brenton Tarrant, and Timothy McVeigh. The young men reportedly studied those attacks in detail, analyzing the assailants' methods and mistakes, according to the statement. "They were fascinated by their ideology, studied how the attacks were carried out, and analyzed the mistakes that were made. The content they consumed contributed to the development of extremely radical moral attitudes,' the security agency said.
