Cleric Mufti Munir Shakir, the founder of the outlawed Lashkar-i-Islam, succumbed to injuries he received from a blast in Peshawar on Saturday, according to an official.
A statement from the police spokesperson said the incident took place in the vicinity of Urmur Police Station and Mufti Shakir was injured on his left foot in the blast. It said the other three injured in the incident were Khushal, Abid and Syed Nabi.
The statement added that personnel from the police, bomb disposal unit and Counter-Terrorism Department were present at the scene and evidence was being collected.
In a video message, Mohammad Asim, a spokesman for the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), said: “Mufti Shakir was brought to LRH in critical condition and succumbed to his injuries,” adding that the hospital was in the process of handing over the body to his heirs.
Special Assistant to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister on Health Ehtesham Ali issued a statement on the matter, saying he was “deeply saddened” to hear of the development.
CM Ali Amin Gandapur condemned the blast and sought a report from the police authorities on the incident. The chief minister directed authorities to carry out the “necessary steps” to arrest the suspects behind the blast and expressed his best wishes for the speedy recovery of the injured.
CM Gandapur also directed the hospital administration to provide the best medical assistance available to the injured.
Lashkar-i-Islam — a Bara-based militant organisation in Khyber tribal region led by Mangal Bagh — was banned in 2008.
A local cleric in Bara, Mufti Shakir formed the Lashkar-i-Islam in December 2004 after Sipah and Malikdinkhel tribesmen announced their full allegiance to him. However, the cleric was expelled from Bar Qambarkhel area after only six months owing to his extremist views and differences with Haji Namdar, another militant commander of the area.
Both Mufti Shakir and Pir Saifur Rehman were forced to leave Bara after a jirga of local elders gave a consensus verdict following bloody clashes between the supporters of the two in early 2005. Mangal Bagh, a bus driver-turned-militant was elevated to the position of amir (chief) of Lashkar-i-Islam in May 2005.
Pakistani security forces demolished the house of Haji Rabat and destroyed the FM radio station set up in a mosque after they started the first military operation against Lashkar-i-Islam in mid-2005.
Additional reporting by Umar Bacha.
