The Islamic State Khorasan group (ISIS K) has claimed responsibility for the targeted killing of prominent religious scholar Sheikh Izzatullah, who was gunned down in Peshawar’s Board Tajabad area on Friday. The claim was made through a post issued on the organisation’s social media account.
Sheikh Izzatullah was attacked when unidentified motorcycle assailants opened fire on his vehicle in the Board Bazaar area. He was travelling with his two sons at the time. The cleric and one of his sons were killed on the spot, while the other sustained critical injuries and remains in serious condition, according to hospital sources.
A case has been registered at the CTD police station, with terrorism charges and other key sections included. The FIR states that the attack occurred as Sheikh Izzatullah was returning home from Jamia Asria, the seminary he headed, when motorcycle gunmen targeted his vehicle and fled.
The report further confirms that the scholar had been receiving repeated death threats from ISIS K in recent months.
The attack comes amid heightened concerns over the expanding footprint of foreign terrorist groups in Afghanistan. A United Nations report issued on November twenty five stated that Afghanistan currently hosts more than twenty foreign militant organisations, with ISIS K alone believed to have around three thousand fighters operating from Afghan soil.
