Elder Afghan religious leader shot dead in Pakistan

KABUL: (MEP) – A eldest Afghan religious leader, Sheikh Abdullah Zakiri, was assassinated in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta on Wednesday, Afghan officials said.

Afghan Taliban also confirmed the incident and blamed “enemies of religion and Afghanistan” for the murder.

Zakiri was head of Afghanistan’s clerics council “Ittehad-e- Ulema Afghanistan” and was well respected in Afghanistan, Afghans familiar with him said.

Slain Zakiri, a former Jehadi personality, had opposed the U.S. forces and bases in Afghanistan and President Hamid Karzai and had also disagreed with some of the Taliban decisions during their rule, Afghan leaders said.

Afghan sources said that the gunmen, riding on a motorcycle, fired at Sheikh Zakiri, near a mosque in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province. The assailants fled after the attack.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Several Afghan leaders, including two senior Taliban leaders, have been shot dead in Quetta in recent weeks.

Taliban had suspected Afghan intelligence involvement in the high-profile assassinations.

The Afghan government had denied any involvement in Taliban killings in Pakistan and linked the incidents to internal differences of the Taliban.

Some Afghan sources believe there is possibility that some Taliban leaders may have contacted the Afghan government for talks.

An Afghan source said Taliban had been anxious to get information if any of their member had secretly met the Afghan peace council’s delegation during the recent Pakistan’s visit.

In November unidentified gunmen had shot dead senior of the Taliban-linked Haqqani Network leader Dr Nasiruddin Haqqani near Islamabad.