Obaidullah Ustad, imam of the Shaidu village mosque in Nowshera had earlier stopped militants from preaching "terrorist values" at the mosque. "It was because of this resistance that the militants returned later in the evening and shot him inside the mosque" District Police Officer (DPO)Muhammad Hussein said while speaking to The Express Tribune.
Obaidullah was severely injured and rushed to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries hospital authorities said. Sources said that the militants wanted to have access to the mosque and use it as a base to find new recruits. The militants reportedly belonged to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Nowshera and its surrounding area have been the hub of militant activities in the recent past. On October 28, a suicide bomber claimed the life of two police officers as he attempted to target Ajmir Shah, the SHO who had started a massive operation against militants in the area.
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How can we forget when these same terrorist organizations used to claim that they were only fighting to defend their religion? Today, the reality is showing us their true face. Their double game has been exposed, and we are all seeing the lengths to which these terrorists will go to enforce their evil ideology. How do you kill someone who refuses to allow religion to be played as a weapon? Only those who are dead set on destroying our nations would go to the extreme of manipulating people with religion.
TTP’s long list of crimes leaves very little to ponder regarding their motives, but the killing of the mosque cleric presents us with a new low. These terrorists are only concerned with achieving their evil agenda and in the process will kill anyone who dares stand against their beliefs. The time has come for us to stand united and support our governments in bringing justice to the thousands who have already fallen prey to their atrocities. Our unity needs to prove that we will not turn a blind eye to the obvious enemies of the nation. Incidents like these are a strong proof and reminder to those who like to avoid the obvious and instead indulge in conspiracy theories.
Our condolences go to the family and friends of this brave cleric, who refused to bow down to their evil ways. His bravery inspires us to continue our mission against terrorism.
You're right, Faction, unfortunately the prejudiced and ignorant Taliban extremist sympathizers are shameless and hypocritical, not to mention a bit unhinged too.
Sorry for your family's loss, Fazallullah Hakeem. The Imam sounded like a true hero and a Shaheed who stood up against the terrorist Kharjite gangsters from spreading their hate venom and twisted religious poison.
Should be a system in place where authorities get notified or act after hearing about such first contacts at the mosques to avoid later ambush attack.
@Faction: i know this parson ,he was my cosen ,he have 3 childreen one is 5 yers old one is 3 yers old one only 2 month , he was a one spoter of his family his mother and one sister ,he biter know abut jehad. becus he was shiek ul akadess ,he was teching of quran arount 200 children ,i think this is a big jehadd to shier knloge of islam .
Come on, where are the militant sympathizers on this one? You can't love your heroes for killing Americans, infidels and apostates and not show up when they take out a Sunni Imam in his mosque, can you?
Zardari should give a medal and a large sum of monies to this maulana and his family for resisting the pressure of the TTP. Also, the government should advise other clerics to quietly give the information to the police in the future and let them catch the terrorists red handed. Once these terrorists are caught they should just be shot without a trial. They DO NOT deserve a trial; justice is only reserved for human beings.
Shukria to ET for addresing them as militants and their work not a murder.
I'm so sad. What is our Government doing about this problem? Why isn't parliament doing anything? Why is this issue not the top of our agenda? Why are we spending so much on the army and not on the police? This Government has totally failed us. Am sure many PPP loyalists will give a billion excuses, but I, for one, am not buying it.
shame shame... this is "kill or get killed" situation.. Peace is simply not an option...