(Bloomberg) -- Maulana Samiul Haq, a Pakistani cleric known as the “father of the Taliban,” was stabbed to death at his home in the northern city of Rawalpindi on Friday, a killing that adds to security challenges facing the two-month-old government of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Unknown assailants killed Haq, 82, before escaping, his son Hamidul told reporters. The cleric claimed to have taught many leaders of the Afghan Taliban at his Darul Uloom Haqqania seminary near the northwestern city of Peshawar.
In an interview last month, Haq senior had welcomed China as a mediator in negotiations with the Taliban to end the conflict in Afghanistan.
Khan's government is already negotiating with leaders of a right-wing religious group after its supporters locked down major cities, including the capital Islamabad and Lahore, to protest a Supreme Court verdict overturning a Christian woman's conviction for blasphemy.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ismail Dilawar in Karachi at mdilawar@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Arijit Ghosh at aghosh@bloomberg.net, Khalid Qayum, Mark Williams
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