Taliban ‘godfather’ Maulana Samiul Haq stabbed to death in Rawalpindi Fist fight caused deadly China bus crash

ISLAMABAD: Top Pakistani cleric Maulana Samiul Haq, who was also known as the 'godfather of Taliban', was stabbed to death at his residence in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on Friday, his family said.

Haq, 82, was the head of the Islamic religious seminary Darul Uloom Haqqania in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Akora Khattak town and also the chief of the hardline political party Jamiat Ulema-i-islam-sami (JUI-S).

Haq, a heart patient, was killed by unidentified attackers while he was resting in his room, his son Maulana Hamidul Haq was quoted as saying by Geo News.

His personal guard had gone out to the market and when he came back he saw Haq lying "in a pool of blood" on the bed, Hamidul added.

JUI-S'S Peshawar president also confirmed Haq's death following an assassination attempt in Rawalpindi.

Initially there were conflicting reports about how Haq was killed. Some Pakistani media had reported that he was killed in a gun attack.

Haq's son has clarified that the cleric was attacked with knife.

Mulana Abdul Majid Hazarwi, a close associate of Haq, also confirmed that he was attacked with knife.

So far, no outfit has claimed the responsibility of the killing.

Haq was elected twice to Pakistan's parliament on Islami Jamhoori Itehad ticket.

He was also the chairman of the Difa-e-pakistan Council -- an umbrella coalition of more than 40 groups, including Hafeez Saeed-led Jamat-ud Dawa (JUD) and the banned Sipah-e-sahaba.

Haq's madrassa in Akora Khattak is known for having several top Afghan Taliban leaders among its alumni, including Mullah Omar who had received an honorary doctorate from the seminary.

Haqqani Network founder Jalaluddin Haqqani, Al-qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AIQS) leader Asim Umar and slain Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansoor were also among the alumni of the seminary which is dubbed as the "University of Jihad".

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Minister of State for Interior, Sheryar Afridi, condemned Haq's killing and said, "The political and religious services of the Mualana will be remembered forever." BEIJING: A fist fight between a woman passenger and a driver caused a bus to plunge from a bridge into the mighty Yangtze River in southwest China, killing at least 13 people, police said on Friday.

The bus plunged 50 metres off the bridge into the Yangtze, China's longest river, in Chongqing city on Sunday.

A total of 13 bodies have been retrieved from the river in Chongqing Municipality, in Wanzhou District, and have all been identified. Two passengers remain missing, state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

The investigation showed that a 48-year-old woman passenger, surnamed Liu, planned to get off at a certain stop.

The 42-year-old driver, surnamed Ran, told her to get off at an earlier stop. However, Liu did not get off and later asked the driver to stop the bus when she realised she missed her destination.

The driver refused as there was no bus stop in view, and an argument broke out, soon led to a fist fight.