Maulana Samiul Haq, ‘godfather of Taliban’, killed in attack in Rawalpindi

Islamabad: Prominent Pakistani cleric Maulana Samiul Haq, who was also known as the godfather of Taliban, was killed in a gun attack in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on Friday, according to media reports.

Haq, 82, was the head of the Islamic religious seminary Darul Uloom Haqqania in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Akora Khattak town and also the chief of the hardline political party Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Sami (JUI-S), Geo News reported. He was killed by unidentified attackers in a house where he was staying, his son was quoted as saying by the report.

JUI-S’s Peshawar president also confirmed Haq’s death following an assassination attempt in Rawalpindi.