PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — An attacker blew himself up Friday in a mosque at a pro-Taliban seminary in northwestern Pakistan, killing a top cleric and five other worshippers and wounding dozens ahead of the fasting month of Ramadan, police said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the suicide blast at the Jamia Haqqania seminary, in the Akora Khattak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the attacker gained entry despite tight security.
Hamidul Haq, the head the seminary and leader of a faction of the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI) party, was among the dead, district police chief Abdul Rashid said.
Haq is the son of the late Maulana Samiul Haq, considered a founding figure for both the Afghan and Pakistani branches of the Taliban. Many Afghan Taliban had studied at Haq's seminary over the past two decades.
Haq’s family confirmed his death and appealed to his followers to remain peaceful.
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other leaders condemned the attack, which came ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to start either on Saturday or Sunday depending on the sighting of the crescent moon.
The Afghan Embassy in Islamabad also condemned the bombing, calling it a cowardly act.
The Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, denounced the attack and the killing of Haq, and offered condolences to families of the victims.
Chaos at a seminary under heavy guard
More than a dozen police officers were guarding the mosque, in addition to the seminary's own security, when the attack occurred, provincial police chief Zulfiqar Hameed said.
Yawar Zia said he was among the police officers on security duty at the seminary when he was hit and wounded by splinters from the bomb. He was transported to the Qazi Hussain Ahmed Hospital by ambulance.
“After offering prayer, Hamidul Haq was leaving the mosque to go home and as he reached the main gate, a powerful explosion occurred, and I fell to the ground, losing consciousness,” Zia told The Associated Press from his hospital bed.
Zahir Shah, a worshipper, said that hundreds of people were leaving the mosque after offering prayers when he heard a powerful blast. He said Haq was heading to his home within the seminary accompanied by guards when the attack occurred.
Shah described a chaotic scene with blood and body parts scattered around, adding that the number of casualties could have been much higher had the bomber struck during the prayers.
The province has seen a surge in attacks
Elsewhere in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday, a roadside bomb exploded near a pharmacy in Orakzai district, killing two people and wounding six others, police officer Adnan Khan said. He gave no further details.
The province has seen several attacks in recent years. In February 2023, as many as 101 people, mostly police officers, were killed when a suicide attack targeted a mosque in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Pakistani authorities have blamed previous attacks on the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP.
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.
Violence in southwestern Pakistan
Pakistan also faces attacks blamed on separatists in the southwest.
On Friday, a roadside bomb exploded near a vehicle carrying security forces in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, wounding 10 people, including two soldiers, 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.
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Associated Press writer Rasool Dawar and Abdul Sattar contributed to this story from Peshawar, Pakistan and Quetta, Pakistan.
Riaz Khan, The Associated Press