RFE
11 Jul 2019, 17:45 GMT+10
Sufi Muhammad, a radical Pakistani cleric who waged war against foreign forces in neighboring Afghanistan, has died.
Family members said the pro-Taliban cleric died on the morning of July 11 in a hospital in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
He is due to be buried in his home village in the Lower Dir district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, in northwest Pakistan, later in the day.
Believed to be in his 90s, Muhammad was the head of the banned group Tehreek Nifaz-e Shariat Muhammadi and the father-in-law of Maulana Fazlullah, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban.
Pakistani authorities arrested him in 2009 after he returned from Afghanistan, where he commanded a group of fighters battling foreign and Afghan forces.
Muhammad was held in a maximum-security prison and was on trial on charges of murder, treason, terrorism, and rebellion.
He was released in January 2018 on health grounds.
Muhammad had long suffered from kidney issues and was diabetic.
In the 1980s, Muhammad fought alongside the mujahedin, the Islamist rebels fighting against occupying Soviet forces and the Moscow-backed Kabul government.
In the 1990s, he launched an armed rebellion against the government in the Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan.
Muhammad returned to Afghanistan after the Taliban's overthrow in 2001.
The United States and Afghanistan have long accused Pakistan of harboring militants.
Pakistan denies the allegations.
With reporting by AP and Express News
Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Republished with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036
Get a daily dose of Pakistan Telegraph news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Pakistan Telegraph.
More InformationBRUSSELS, Belgium: Meta is holding firm on its controversial pay-or-consent model, a move that could lead to fresh antitrust charges...
LONDON, U.K.: American consumers and businesses could soon face the highest overall tariff burden in more than a century, according...
The family of Sayfollah Saif Musallet, a 20-year-old American citizen who was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West...
CONCORD, New Hampshire: A federal judge in New Hampshire issued a crucial ruling on July 10 against President Donald Trump's executive...
DUBAI, U.A.E.: A cargo ship flagged under Liberia, known as the Eternity C, sank in the Red Sea following an attack executed by Yemen's...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Trump administration has started sending some weapons to Ukraine again, just a week after the Pentagon told officials...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: Bitcoin surged to a new all-time high this week, buoyed by growing institutional interest and a wave of pro-crypto...
SHENZHEN, China: As global chip competition intensifies, Huawei Technologies is exploring new markets in the Middle East and Southeast...
LONDON/NEW YORK CITY: American grocery bills may be headed higher as coffee and orange juice prices face upward pressure from new tariffs...
BATTLE CREEK, Michigan: In a major consolidation of iconic food brands, WK Kellogg has agreed to be acquired by the owner of Ferrero...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Filmmaker Peter Jackson's lifelong fascination with the extinct giant New Zealand flightless bird called the moa...
NEW DELHI, India: India has submitted a revised proposal to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva to implement retaliatory tariffs...