BY: News Peddlers
Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani, a prominent Taliban religious leader, was killed in a bombing at a seminary in Kabul, according to Taliban officials.
"We were very saddened to learn that respected cleric [Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani] was martyred in a cowardly attack by enemies," said Bilal Karimi, a Taliban administration spokesperson, on Thursday.
The armed group ISIL (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack.
According to four Taliban sources cited by Reuters, the attacker had previously lost his leg and had hidden the explosives in a plastic artificial leg.
"We're looking into who this... person was and what brought him to this important location to enter Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani's personal office." "It's a huge loss for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," a senior Taliban official from the interior ministry said, referring to the group's administrative name.
Afterwards yesterday, ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack on its telegram channels, claiming that the bomber detonated an explosive vest inside the scholar's office.
According to the monitoring group SITE, Haqqani was one of the most "prominent advocates for the Taliban and one of the biggest of them who incited to fight" ISIL.
Haqqani was a prominent Taliban scholar who had survived previous attacks, including a large blast in the northern Pakistani city of Peshawar claimed by the ISIL group in 2020 that killed at least seven people.
Many Taliban officials expressed their condolences on social media.
"You have fulfilled your obligation. Destiny cannot be avoided, but the Muslim community has been orphaned," tweeted Mobin Khan, a former Kabul police spokesman.
Following the September 11, 2001, attacks, a US-led invasion toppled the Taliban government. Since regaining power a year ago, the Taliban has claimed to have restored security.
However, regular attacks by armed groups have occurred in recent months, many of which have been claimed by an ISIL affiliate known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K).
The group has recently increased its attacks on mosques and minorities across Afghanistan. In June, the ISKP claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a Sikh temple in Kabul.
The ISIL affiliate, which has been operating in Afghanistan since 2014, is regarded as the country's most serious security threat to the Taliban government.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA