Fri Feb 28 11:35:55 UTC 2025: ## Mosque Bombing Kills Five in Pakistan, Top Religious Leader Critically Injured

**PESHAWAR, Pakistan —** A powerful bomb exploded at a mosque inside a pro-Taliban seminary in Akora Khattak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, on Friday, killing at least five people and injuring dozens more. The attack, which occurred just before the start of the holy month of Ramadan, targeted a gathering of worshippers.

Among the critically wounded is Hamidul Haq, a prominent leader of a faction of the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI) party and head of the Jamia Haqqania seminary. Haq, the son of the late Maulana Samiul Haq (“the father of the Taliban”), is a figure of significant influence, with the seminary having educated many Afghan Taliban members in the past two decades. His family has urged followers to remain calm.

Provincial police chief Zulfiqar Hameed described the attack as an apparent suicide bombing, though investigations by bomb disposal experts are ongoing. No group has yet claimed responsibility. Despite the presence of over a dozen police officers guarding the mosque and additional seminary security, the bombing still occurred.

This latest attack follows a surge in violence in Pakistan in recent years, including a devastating 2023 suicide bombing at a Peshawar mosque that killed 101 people, mostly police officers. Pakistani authorities have consistently blamed the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group allied with the Afghan Taliban, for similar attacks. The TTP’s strength has reportedly increased since the Afghan Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, providing sanctuary for many of their fighters. The timing of the attack, on the eve of Ramadan, adds another layer of concern.

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