Prominent cleric killed in Kabul seminary blast

KABUL (Pajhwok): A prominent cleric, Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani, was killed in a blast at a religious seminary in Kabul on Thursday, an official said.

Bilal Karimi, Deputy Spokesman of the Government, wrote in a tweet: " "Very sadly informed that respected cleric (Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani) was martyred in a cowardly attack by enemies."

He did not elaborate further, but Tolo News reported the religious scholar lost his life due to an explosion in his seminary in Kabul on Thursday afternoon.

The attacker had reportedly hidden the explosives in a plastic artificial leg.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the blast.

Taliban sources told Reuters news agency the attacker was someone who had previously lost his leg and had hidden the explosives in a plastic artificial leg.

"We are investigating who this ... person was and who had brought him to this important place to enter the personal office of Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani. It's a very huge loss for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," said one senior Taliban official of the interior ministry.

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