Thousands of mourners attend funeral of Taliban-linked cleric killed in Pakistan suicide blast

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AKORA KHATTAK, Pakistan (AP) — Thousands of mourners attended a funeral on Saturday for a Taliban-linked cleric slain in a suicide bomb attack on a seminary in Pakistan’s northwest.

Hamidul Haq, the head of Jamia Haqqania seminary, was one of seven people killed in a suicide bombing on Friday at a mosque inside the compound. Police said Haq was the target of the attack.

Haq was the son of the late Maulana Samiul Haq, who is considered a founding figure for the Afghan and Pakistani branches of the Taliban. Many Afghan Taliban have studied at Jamia Haqqania in the past few decades.

Mourners packed into the main hall of the seminary for the funeral, with more praying on the street. The prayers passed without incident due to a heavy police deployment and seminary students guarding the venue.

Muslim Jan, a cleric at the funeral, called the suicide bombing a tragedy and described the victims as “our teachers and brothers.”

"What happened was a disaster, it was unbearable,” he said.

No one has so far claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack, which came just before the start of the holy month of Ramadan.

Authorities issued a photo of the alleged suicide bomber and have offered a reward of 500,000 rupees ($1,787) for information about his identity, parentage and place of residence.

The bombing at the seminary was one of four attacks in Pakistan on Friday, two of them at mosques.