Pakistan's top pro-Taliban cleric laid to rest

Pakistan's top pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Samiul Haq was laid to rest on Saturday afternoon in the Darul Uloom Haqqania seminary in Akora Khattak town in the north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Haq, the 82-year-old cleric who was also known as the 'godfather of Taliban', was stabbed to death by unidentified attackers at his residence in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on Friday.

Thousands of people, including National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Governor Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Shah Farman, Chief Minister Mehmood Khan, attended Haq's funeral prayers which were led by his son Maulana Hamidul Haq.

After the prayers, Haq was buried close to his father's grave in the Darul Uloom Haqqania. The provincial government has declared a day of mourning.

The funeral was also attended by members of political parties, religious scholars and lawmakers. A 65-member Afghan delegation also attended the funeral prayers.

Elaborate security measures were adopted with police deployed at different points in and around the Darul Uloom Haqqania. Haq was the head of the Darul Uloom Haqqania seminary, which is dubbed in the western media as "University of Jihad" as several top Afghan and Pakistani Taliban leaders studied there, including Mullah Omar who had received an honorary doctorate from the seminary.