Quetta
The Afghan Taliban leader’s brother was among four people killed in a blast at a mosque in Quetta Friday, insurgent sources and a Pakistani official said on Saturday.
The Taliban have not officially commented, but an unofficial statement circulating among Taliban fighters on WhatsApp and seen by this agency confirmed the claim.
The blast comes at a delicate moment as a deal between the insurgents and Washington to end America’s war in Afghanistan is believed to be imminent.
Balochistan IGP Mohsin Hassan Butt said the explosion — the latest violence in a string of attacks in the province — was caused by a remotely detonated bomb in Kuchlak.
“The death toll is four … and there are 23 others wounded,” senior police official Abdul Razzaq Cheema said. A senior official with the Balochistan government confirmed that Ahmadullah Azkhundzada, brother of the Taliban chief Haibatullah Akhundzada, was among the dead.
“This is confirmed that he is the brother of Haibatullah,” he told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“The explosion took place while Hafiz Ahmadullah was reading sermon. Hafiz Ahmadullah was killed,” one said. The list of dead and wounded issued by Sandeman Hospital also carries the name “Hamdullah, son of Maulvi Mohammad Khan”.—AFP
