NEW DELHI: The ISI has come under fire after firebrand cleric Mufti Munir Shakir, a known critic of the Pak state was killed in an IED attack in Peshawar two days ago. At his funeral, Mufti’s son directly blamed Pakistani intelligence for his death and thousands chanted slogans against the military and the Pak army, accusing them of targeting Pashtuns.
A video of the funeral surfaced on X on Monday showing the funeral ground echoing with slogans like “Yeh Col, General…dehshatgard…Yeh jo dehshatgardi hai iske piche vardi hai… (These Colonels, Generals are terrorists; uniforms are backing this terrorism) “
A statement from the Peshawar police spokesperson had earlier said that Shakir was injured on his left foot in a blast that took place in the vicinity of Urmur Police Station on March 15. A case was registered at the Counter Terrorism Department police station against ‘unknown militants’.
Sources said that an improvised explosive device (IED), containing approximately 600 grams of explosives, was planted near the gate of a mosque and detonated as Mufti Shakir entered the premises.
Video footage at the time of the explosion shows he was accompanied by two others at the time of the blast.
Known for using FM radio to propagate his thoughts, Mufti Munir Shakir had in the past often called out the Pakistani establishment for misusing Islam for their own gains.
Shakir had founded a rebel outfit named Lashkar-e-Islam in 2004, in Bara, Khyber district and had ties to the Deobandi sub-sect Panjpiri besides being associated with an organisation “Ishaat-e-Tauheed”.
New militant group puts Pak forces on notice, identifies them as primary target
In what could worsen Pakistan’s internal security challenge, a new militant group, Harqat Inqilab Islami Pakistan (IIP), announced its presence in Pakistan on Monday with group’s leader, Ghazi Shahabuddin, releasing a eight-minute video, surrounded by dozens of masked and armed militants, identifying Pakistani security forces as their primary target, reports Rajshekhar Jha. Shahabuddin declared that it would focus its operations in Pakistan and was open to collaborating with other militant groups in the region. Sources here said that the outfit is likely an al-Qaida offshoot which has been on an offensive against Pakistan. The move comes weeks after another new militant group, Jaish-e-Umari, emerged in north Waziristan claiming to have the backing of over 1,000 fighters.