ISLAMABAD: Unidentified gunmen shot to death prominent religious scholar Maulana Sheikh Muhammad Idris in the northwestern Charsadda district on Tuesday, a police official said.
The attack took place at the Utmanzai area of Charsadda district in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Tuesday morning, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported. The unknown attackers sprayed Idris’ car with bullets.
He was rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead, APP said.
“We are investigating the incident,” Regional Police Officer Mardan Rab Nawaz Khan told Arab News. “Further details can only be provided after the investigation is complete.”
He said two police officers had also been injured in the attack. However, he said they were out of danger.
Peshawar-based journalist and security analyst Iftikhar Firdous told Arab News that Idris was a member of the religio-political party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam.
Firdous said Idris had traveled to Afghanistan in 2024 to meet Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada in an attempt to resolve tensions between Islamabad and Kabul over the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group.
Islamabad accuses Kabul of harboring TTP militants who launch attacks against Pakistan, charges that Afghanistan denies.
While no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, Firdous pointed out that multiple publications linked to local Daesh affiliate ISKP issued direct threats against the cleric in recent months.
“Authorities had issued security alerts to him in the days leading up to the attack,” Firdous said.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari expressed sorrow over Idris’ killing in separate statements.
Sharif conveyed his sympathies for Idris’ relatives and prayed for his soul.
“He prayed that Almighty Allah elevates the ranks of the martyr and grant patience to the grieving family,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement.
Zardari, meanwhile, prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured police officers.
President Zardari said that such cowardly acts of terrorism cannot weaken the morale of the nation.
“He reaffirmed that the national resolve to completely eliminate terrorism from the country remains strong and unwavering,” Zardari’s office said.
KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi expressed sorrow over Idris’ killing in a statement issued by his office.
“He termed the martyrdom of Sheikh-ul-Hadith Maulana Idris an irreparable loss not only for the province but for the entire country,” the statement said.
