KEY POINTS
- Religious leaders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are on the hit list of terrorists.
- Maulana Hamidul Haq and Mufti Munir Shakir’s killings indicate the growing threat to religious figures.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan: On the evening of March 15, the emergency ward of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s largest tertiary hospital, Lady Reading Hospital, saw an unusual surge in activity.
Additional police force was deployed, and more doctors were called in. As iftar approached, no one seemed concerned about breaking fast—everyone’s attention was fixed on the operation theatre of the hospital.
Outside, the crowd kept growing, and security guards repeatedly urged, “Only essential personnel should remain inside.”
Even as the call to prayers signalled the time for iftar, people stood outside praying, anxiously waiting for news from the operation room.
Inside, religious scholar and orator Mufti Munir Shakir was undergoing surgery. He had been rushed to the hospital after sustaining severe injuries in a bomb blast just moments earlier.
A man moved through the crowd outside, holding a small box of dates and offering them to those gathered. “Break your fast with these dates and pray for Mufti Sahib,” he urged.
Shortly after iftar, a doctor stepped out of the emergency ward and quietly told a colleague, “Mufti Munir Shakir had lost too much blood. We did everything we could, but he did not survive.”
Police investigations suggest ISKP was behind the suicide bombing at Jamia Haqqania, while Mufti Munir Shakir’s assassination might be the work of a local militant faction.
The words spread through the hospital corridors like wildfire. Some people broke into tears, others recited durood aloud, and in no time, Mufti Munir Shakir’s body was brought out in a coffin.
Mufti Munir Shakir had lived in the outskirts of Peshawar’s Urmar area for several years.
On March 15, he was on his way to the mosque near his home for Asr prayers when a bomb exploded at the mosque gate, injuring him and four others.
A controversial rise
Mufti Munir Shakir first rose to prominence in 2006 through an FM radio channel in Bara, formerly Khyber Agency which was renamed Khyber tribal district after the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) was merged in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the wake of 25th Constitutional Amendment in 2018.
Later, he founded the militant group Lashkar-e-Islam, which was eventually declared a proscribed organisation by the government.
His life was full of dramatic turns—disappearing from Karachi Airport in 2011, only to reappear in 2013, after which he lived in hiding.
In 2021, after years of silence, Mufti Shakir resurfaced on social media, gaining popularity for challenging certain religious beliefs, particularly stating that Taraweeh prayers were neither obligatory nor a Sunnah.
Killing someone inside a mosque—how is this jihad? What kind of love for religion is this? How can I call someone a martyr who kills inside a mosque? These murderers are not martyrs; they are butchers.” – Maulana Fazlur Rahman.
However, his influence skyrocketed after he led the funeral prayers for four Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) activists killed in a police operation in Jumrud area of Khyber district on October 10, 2024.
During the funeral, he openly criticised the State and its institutions, a stance he reinforced the next day at a PTM national gathering. His speeches went viral on social media, making him a polarising figure.
His funeral on March 16 was held at Bagh-e-Naran Park in Peshawar, drawing a massive crowd of 8,000 to 10,000 people, according to a Special Branch report.
Various political, social, and religious leaders, including PTM’s top leadership, attended the funeral, calling his killing a failure of State institutions.
A Peshawar-based researcher, Dr. Tariqullah, who closely follows religious group dynamics, alliances, and conflicts, notes that Mufti Munir Shakir first stirred tensions in Bara by criticising Pir Saifur Rahman and later aligned with the Panjpiri doctrine, aggressively challenging traditional Deobandi scholars.
“At one point, he even turned against Panjpiri scholars, further alienating himself and gaining more enemies than allies within religious circles.”
Unclaimed attacks
Just two weeks earlier, on February 28, a suicide bombing at Jamia Haqqania in Akora Khattak, Nowshera, killed renowned religious scholar Hamidul Haq Haqqani and seven others, injuring 15 more.
No militant group claimed responsibility for either the Akora Khattak or Peshawar attacks, raising serious questions about why religious figures were being systematically targeted.
Our objective is to change the system in this country and our target is security personnel. We’ve nothing to do with political and religious figures.” – TTP.
TTP, through a video statement released on March 18, 2025, distanced itself from the growing attacks on religious leaders, stating, “Our objective is to change the system in this country and our target is security personnel. We’ve nothing to do with political and religious figures.”
Given Jamia Haqqania’s longstanding ties with the Afghan Taliban, speculation grew that Islamic State Khurasan Province (ISKP) rather than TTP, was responsible for the attack. However, even ISKP refrained from claiming responsibility.
A senior government official in Peshawar tells WE News English, “Police investigations suggest ISKP was behind the suicide bombing at Jamia Haqqania, while Mufti Munir Shakir’s assassination might be the work of a local militant faction.”
Given his past role in Bara, the police officer adds, he had made many enemies. Initial findings indicate that this attack was likely carried out by a local militant group rather than ISKP.
Further explaining ISKP’s silence, he adds: “ISKP may have refrained from claiming responsibility to avoid backlash from its support base. The primary aim of these attacks appears to be spreading fear within religious circles, which until now felt relatively safe.”
There are also concerns that nationalists could be targeted next. As a precaution, the government has advised various political leaders, especially nationalists, to limit their movements, he says.
JUI-F’s strong response
On March 10, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman visited Jamia Haqqania to offer condolences and spoke to the media in an unusually strong tone.
ISKP may have refrained from claiming responsibility to avoid backlash from its support base. The primary aim of these attacks appears to be spreading fear within religious circles, which until now felt relatively safe.
“Killing someone inside a mosque—how is this jihad? What kind of love for religion is this? How can I call someone a martyr who kills inside a mosque? These murderers are not martyrs; they are butchers.”
He said that those conspiring against religious figures are criminals, not warriors.
Daud Khattak, a Prague-based journalist who closely monitors terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan, says that although no militant group has claimed responsibility for the attacks on these two religious figures, there is some evidence suggesting ISKP’s involvement.
He remarks that ISKP had previously targeted Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and since it considers Pakistan’s current political system to be un-Islamic, this factor is also evident in the attack on Hamidul Haq.
“ISKP might have targeted Hamidul Haq because he was actively supporting Afghan Taliban,” says Daud.
Decades of assassinations
Mufti Munir Shakir and Hamidul Haq are not the first religious leaders to be targeted. Over the past two decades, militant groups have assassinated leaders from both religious and liberal political parties.
In 2004, religious leader Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai—who issued fatwa against suicide bombings in Pakistan—was gunned down. In 2007, JUI-F scholar Maulana Hasan Jan was shot dead in Peshawar.
In 2011, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman survived two suicide bombings in Swabi and Charsadda, and again in 2014 in Quetta.
The military and police believed they had significantly weakened TTP, but recent attacks have shown that TTP has reorganised effectively.
In 2012, Jamaat-e-Islami leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed narrowly escaped a female suicide bomber’s attack in Mohmand.
In 2014, a suicide bombing at a JUI-F gathering in Bajaur killed 68 people. In 2018, JUI-S chief Maulana Samiul Haq was assassinated in Rawalpindi. In 2023-24, JUI-F lost 40 local leaders to targeted attacks and IED bombings.
Tracing the perpetrators
Sweden-based researcher Abdul Sayed while talking to WE News English, points to TTP’s renewed offensive: “On March 15, TTP launched its ‘Al-Khandaq Operation,’ claiming 58 attacks across the country on the first day. In January and February, TTP announced the establishment of operational networks in 97 tehsils, appointing 500 commanders to expand their war against security forces and establish themselves as a parallel power. In addition to TTP, groups like Lashkar-e-Islam and Hafiz Gul Bahadur’s faction have also escalated their attacks in Pakistan, leading to a sharp increase in violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa compared to last year.”
Likewise, a senior Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police officer, who wishes to be named, puts it this way: “The military and police believed they had significantly weakened TTP, but recent attacks have shown that TTP has reorganised effectively.”
He says that since 2019, TTP shifted its strategy from attacking public places to targeting security forces and law-enforcement agencies, openly claiming responsibility for such attacks. However, some incidents go unclaimed to avoid backlash.
“Meanwhile, ISKP, Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, and other factions have also become more active.” He warns of a growing threat, saying that beyond religious scholars, key political figures may also be targeted.
As Khyber Pakhtunkhwa faces a rising tide of targeted killings and militant attacks, the key question remains: Why are religious figures being targeted, and who stands to gain from their elimination?
