Top Taliban cleric killed in Kabul suicide blast

A Taliban fighter stands guard in front of a Sikh temple following an attack by gunmen in Kabul. (File/AFP)

• Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani was killed by a suicide bomber at his madrassa in the Afghan capital
• Daesh has claimed responsibility for the blast

KABUL/PESHAWAR: A prominent Taliban cleric, Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani, was killed in an attack in a seminary in Kabul when the attacker detonated explosives hidden in a plastic artificial leg on Thursday, according to officials and Taliban sources.
Rahimullah Haqqani, who had recently spoken publicly in favor of girls being allowed to attend school, had survived at least two previous assassination attempts — including one in Pakistan in October 2020.
“Very sadly informed that respected cleric (Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani) was martyred in a cowardly attack by enemies,” said Bilal Karimi, a spokesperson for the Taliban administration.
“He is the only one martyred,” Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran told AFP, adding that at least four others were wounded in the blast.
Later on Thursday, Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack on the school.
Four Taliban sources told Reuters the attacker was someone who had previously lost his leg and had hidden the explosives in a plastic artificial leg.
“We are investigating who this ... person was and who had brought him to this important place to enter the personal office of Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani. It’s a very huge loss for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” said one senior Taliban official of the interior ministry, referring to the group’s name for its administration.
Taliban sources said although he held no official position, Haqqani was an influential figure who had taught many of the group’s members over the years.
Scores of Taliban officials took to social media to express their condolences.
“You have fulfilled your responsibility. Destiny cannot be prevented, but the Muslim community has been orphaned,” tweeted Mobin Khan, a former spokesman for the Kabul police.
Haqqani was known for angry speeches against IS, who have claimed several attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s return to power in August last year.
In recent months he also backed the right of girls to attend school.
“There is no justification in sharia to say female education is not allowed. No justification at all,” he told the BBC in an interview in May.
Since seizing power a year ago, the Taliban have imposed harsh restrictions on girls and women to comply with their austere vision of Islam.
They have not allowed secondary schools for girls to reopen in most of the country.
(With AFP and Reuters)