- Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani was killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul.
- He supported the Taliban and advocated for female education.
- The Islamic State (IS) group has claimed responsibility for the bombing.
A prominent Afghan cleric who supported the Taliban and advocated for female education was assassinated.
Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani was killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul, according to reports.
According to Taliban sources who spoke to Reuters, the religious leader was targeted by a man who detonated explosives hidden in an artificial plastic limb.
The Islamic State (IS) group, which has previously targeted the cleric, claimed responsibility for the bombing and stated that it occurred inside his office.
According to local media, the attack occurred at an Islamic seminary in Kabul.
Sheikh Haqqani supported Afghanistan’s Taliban government and was a vocal opponent of the jihadist militant group Islamic State Kohrasan Province (IS-K), a regional affiliate of IS that operates in Afghanistan and opposes the Taliban’s rule.
He is one of the most prominent figures to have been assassinated in the country since the Taliban retook power last year.
“It’s a huge loss for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” a senior Taliban official told Reuters, adding that authorities were looking into who was responsible for the attack.
He was not related to Afghanistan’s Haqqani militant group network, despite sharing the same name.
Previously, the religious leader issued a fatwa, or religious decree, in support of female education, which is a contentious issue in Afghanistan.