Abdullah Zakiri, an influential Afghan cleric who supported the Afghan Taliban in their war against US-led forces, has been shot dead in Quetta, officials said on Thursday.
“Two unidentified gunmen riding a motorcycle shot Maulana Abdullah Zakiri while he was on his way to a mosque on Wednesday night,” police officials said.
Provincial home secretary Asad Gilani has also confirmed the killing.
Zakiri had been living in Quetta for a long time and had no known disputes with anyone, though his family have accused Afghan intelligence of his murder.
According to an Afghan Taliban source, Zakiri, 80, was a teacher and a close aide of Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Omar. The source also blamed Afghan intelligence for the murder.
Abdul Sattar Chishti, a leader of the pro-Taliban Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Nazariati, termed Zakiri a strong proponent of fighting foreign forces in Afghanistan.
“We believe that Afghan intelligence is behind the murder of Maulana Zakiri as they have been killing Afghan religious scholars in the past also,” Chishti said.
Zakiri was also the chief of Ittehad-e-Ulema Afghanistan, an alliance of Afghan clerics.
Zakiri hailed from Kandahar, the Taliban’s spiritual birthplace, but did not join their government which ruled Afghanistan from 1996 – 2001. However, he became a fervent supporter of jihad against US-led Nato troops after 2001, issuing edicts against them.
