A devastating suicide bombing shook a mosque situated within a pro-Taliban seminary in northwestern Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday. The attack claimed the lives of at least five worshippers and left dozens injured just before the holy month of Ramzan, according to local law enforcement.
The explosion occurred in Akkora Khattak, a district within Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, as confirmed by Abdul Rashid, the district’s police chief. He stated that authorities are actively investigating the incident while emergency responders transport the deceased and injured to nearby hospitals.
As of now, no militant group has come forward to claim responsibility for the attack inside Jamia Haqqania, a seminary known for its historical ties to the Afghan Taliban, as reported by the Associated Press.
The attack took place just ahead of the anticipated beginning of Ramzan, which is dependent on the sighting of the moon and expected to commence either on Saturday or Sunday.
Jamia Haqqania has been informally dubbed the “University of Jihad” due to its ideological teachings and the number of Taliban fighters it has nurtured over the years. The expansive institution accommodates approximately 4,000 students who receive free education, food, and lodging.
For decades, Pakistan’s madrassas have served as breeding grounds for militancy, providing education to marginalized refugees who have little to no alternatives. Many of these institutions are known for their hardline teachings delivered by radical clerics.
Several high-profile militant leaders have studied at this institution, including the late Taliban founder Mullah Omar, who led the insurgency against the United States and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Jalaluddin Haqqani, the founder of the notorious Haqqani network, also graduated from the seminary. His network has been responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan during the two-decade-long conflict.
Positioned at the epicenter of regional militant violence for years, the seminary has educated both Pakistanis and Afghan refugees, some of whom returned to their homelands to fight against foreign forces or propagate extremist ideologies.
Following the withdrawal of foreign troops and the collapse of the previous Afghan government in August 2021, the Taliban reclaimed power in Kabul. Since then, militancy has resurged in the border regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
According to the Center for Research and Security Studies, 2023 was Pakistan’s deadliest year in a decade, witnessing a dramatic increase in terrorist attacks that resulted in over 1,600 fatalities.
Pakistan’s government has consistently accused Kabul’s Taliban-led administration of harboring militants who use Afghan soil as a launchpad for cross-border attacks. However, the Taliban government has refuted these allegations.
Taliban Condemns Attack
Afghanistan’s Taliban government has strongly denounced the attack on the seminary with deep-rooted ties to its movement.
“We strongly condemn this cowardly attack. We consider them enemies of Islam and have made significant efforts to eliminate such threats successfully,” stated Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry. He pointed fingers at the Islamic State group, though no organization has yet officially claimed responsibility for the bombing.