Maulana Hamidul Haq Haqqani, the Deputy Head of Darul Uloom Haqqania and son of slain religious leader Maulana Samiul Haq , was killed in a suicide bombing in Akora Khattak area of Nowshera district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, on Friday.
According to officials, At least five people, including JUI-S leader Maulana Hamidul Haq Haqqani, were killed and 20 injured when a suicide blast ripped through the Darul Uloom Haqqania seminary in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Nowshera district
The attacker, wearing an explosive-laden suicide vest, walked up to Haq as he was leaving a mosque on the premises of the Darul Uloom Haqqania seminary, his brother Maulana Abdul Haq told Reuters.
“Maulana Hamid-ul-Haq… died on the spot and around two dozen people were injured in the blast,” he said.
Regional police officer Najeebur Rahman said earlier that several people were wounded.
The explosion took place in Akkora Khattak, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Abdul Rashid, a district police chief said. He added that officers are investigating, and the dead and wounded are being transported to hospitals.
No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack inside Jamia Haqqania, a seminary which is known for links with the Afghan Taliban, news agency Associated Press reported.
The bombing came ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramzan, which is expected to start either on Saturday or Sunday subject to the sighting of the Moon.
Rescue officials transported the injured to nearby hospitals. The KP government declared an emergency in all hospitals and health facilities across Peshawar, about 70km away from Nowshera by road.
“The presence of medical staff and necessary medicines be ensured,” read a statement from the KP commissioner’s office.
KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur ordered an immediate report on the incident and directed officials to “provide the best medical facilities” to the wounded.
“Targeting innocent people in a place of worship is an inhumane act,” Gandapur said, adding that “all available resources should be used to bring the elements involved in the heartbreaking incident to justice.”
Haqqani, the son of assassinated cleric Maulana Samiul Haq, served as vice chancellor of the Darul Uloom Haqqania and chairman of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) political party. Moreover He also served as a member of the National Assembly from 2002 to 2007.