'Father of Taliban' assassinated in Pakistan

Islamabad: Maulana Samiul Haq, a former Pakistani Senator more widely known as the "Father of Taliban", was stabbed to death on Friday while resting in his room in Rawalpindi city, his family said.

The influential religious leader's son Maulana Hamidul Haq told Geo News that his father's
driver had gone out. On his return, he saw that Maulana Sami was sprawled on his bed in a pool of blood. "He was no longer alive."

The news of Maulana Sami's death comes at a time when religio-political parties are protesting the Supreme Court's acquittal of a Christian woman in a blasphemy case.

According to Hamidul, Maulana Sami, a close ally of Prime Minister Imran Khan, was unable to take part in the protest against the woman's acquittal due to road blockades and had returned home.

"He was stabbed multiple times," he said.

Maulana Sami's driver and bodyguard had both left the room for some 15 minutes when he was stabbed.

Maulana Sami, said to be around 83 years old, headed the Darul Uloom Haqqania seminary in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's Akora Khattak area.

He was a Senator between March 1991 and March 1994. He was elected on an Islami Jamhoori Itehad ticket.

He was aligned with the now ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of Imran Khan in the July 25 parliamentary election.

Last month, a high-level delegation from Afghanistan called on Maulana Sami at Darul Uloom Haqqania and urged him to play a role in resolving the Afghan crisis.