Kabul: Top Taliban commander Rahimullah Haqqani has been killed in a suicide attack in a Madrasah in Kabul. Rahimullah was a staunch supporter of the Taliban’s terrorist ideology and an Islamic scholar. No organization has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. However, Taliban sources say that the resistance force or the Islamic State may be behind this. The Taliban’s special police have also started an investigation into the matter. Rahimullah Haqqani is considered the ideological mentor of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the current interior minister of Afghanistan and the leader of the Haqqani network. Rahimullah was also considered the face of the Taliban on social media. This terrorist has millions of followers on his social media platform.
Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani has also been a member of the Taliban Military Commission in Nangarhar province. He was captured by the US Army during an encounter and was imprisoned in Bagram Prison in Afghanistan for several years. He lived in Pakistan for nine years before the Taliban took over Afghanistan. He also founded Madrasah Zubairy in Deer Colony located in Peshawar, Pakistan. Afghan civilians and Taliban fighters receive religious education in these madrassas. In Peshawar, it is also considered to be a major stronghold of the Taliban. Through this madrassa, donations are collected for the Taliban from all over Pakistan and abroad. Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI also helps in this.
Rahimullah was vocal against ISIS
Haqqani was very vocal against Salafi and the ideology associated with the Islamic State. It is believed that this made him a target of his opponents. Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani also started his own Facebook and YouTube channel under the guise of a madrassa. Afghan Maulvi is popular in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Facebook page and YouTube channel have many videos of these Afghan clerics speaking on religious issues related to Hadith literature and Deobandi and Hanafi ideologies.
Big loss to Taliban
The killing of Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani is considered the biggest blow to the Haqqani network. Rahimullah was the ideological face of the Haqqani network. He represented the Haqqani network throughout the Arab countries, including Afghanistan. In such a situation, this killing in the capital Kabul has shaken the Taliban’s government of the Islamic Emirate of Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani. The attack shows that the Taliban’s grip on Kabul is also loosening. These days the Taliban are busy trying to get their government recognized. In which Rahimullah’s role was considered very important. Haqqani’s death may also affect the funding the Taliban receives from abroad and from Pakistan.