PESHAWAR: Jamaatud Dawa (JuD), a self-proclaimed charity working across Pakistan, on Friday held funeral prayers in absentia for the deceased Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour in the provincial capital.
JuD provincial spokesperson Ghazi Inamullah told DawnNews that the funeral prayers in absentia were offered at Jamia Masjid Khyber Markaz in Peshawar and attended by hundreds of JuD activists and general public.
Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mansour was killed in a United States (US) drone strike in Balochistan.
After holding the funeral prayers, JuD activists marched from Fawara Chowk area to the Peshawar Press Club to protest against the US drone strike inside Pakistani territory and called it an attack on the national integrity and sovereignty.
Attendees of the rally chanted slogans against US government and later desecrated the American flag.
JuD leaders Hafiz Samiullah, Haji Mohammad Iqbal and ASWJ Peshawar chief Moulana Ismail addressed the gathering and said that US government is trying to cover-up its failures and drone strike in Balochistan is part of this campaign.
Jamaatud Dawa is a controversial organisation, which was added to the banned outfits list by Pakistani authorities at the start of the year, along with the Haqqani network.
The US State Department last year named JuD as a “foreign terrorist organisation,” a status that freezes any assets it has under US jurisdiction.
