A deadly terrorist attack in South Waziristan has claimed the life of prominent religious scholar Maulana Hafiz Sultan Muhammad, who succumbed to his injuries after an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Wana. The attack also targeted his young daughter, underscoring the growing brutality of militant violence against religious figures and civilians alike.
According to local officials, the IED detonated as Maulana Sultan and his daughter were travelling in Wana, a key town in South Waziristan. The scholar sustained critical injuries and was rushed to hospital, where he later passed away. His daughter was also injured in the blast and is receiving medical treatment.
The Pakistan Ulema Council expressed deep sorrow and grief over the martyrdom of Maulana Hafiz Sultan Muhammad, strongly condemning the attack and terming it an assault on peace, religion, and humanity. Religious scholars and community elders across the region stressed that targeting scholars and innocent families would not weaken Pakistan’s resolve to stand united against extremism.
Conflicting Claims Expose a Shared Terror Ecosystem
The killing of Maulana Hafiz Sultan Muhammad has once again drawn attention to the overlapping operational landscape of militant groups active against Pakistan. While the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) initially denied involvement in the attack, responsibility was later claimed by the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP).
Security analysts say this pattern—one group distancing itself while another claims responsibility—reflects coordination rather than rivalry. Despite projecting themselves as ideological competitors, TTP and ISKP are widely assessed to coexist, rotate responsibility for high-profile assassinations, and operate from the same permissive sanctuaries across the border in Afghanistan.
Following the Taliban takeover of Kabul in 2021, many ISKP commanders and fighters—several of them former TTP cadres displaced after Pakistan’s counter-terrorism operations—were released from Afghan prisons and absorbed into new militant structures. Analysts argue that this has blurred distinctions between the two outfits, effectively turning ISKP into a re branded extension of earlier militant networks pursuing the same destabilising agenda.
Targeting Religious Leaders: A Consistent Pattern
The assassination of Maulana Hafiz Sultan Muhammad fits a broader and deeply concerning pattern of attacks on mainstream religious figures in Pakistan. In 2023, Maulana Hassan Jan, a respected Deobandi cleric in Peshawar, was assassinated in an attack attributed to TTP. More recently, Maulvi Izzatullah was killed in November 2025, reinforcing fears of a systematic campaign aimed at silencing religious scholars who hold influence within their communities.
Why this matters:
Militant groups increasingly target religious leaders to fracture community cohesion, intimidate moderate voices, and generate fear far beyond the immediate impact of an attack.
International Alarm Over Afghan-Based Militancy
At the United Nations Security Council, international representatives have repeatedly raised concerns about the threat posed by militant groups operating from Afghan soil. Denmark’s Deputy Permanent Representative recently warned that the banned TTP poses a serious and growing danger in Central and South Asia, with thousands of fighters reportedly active from across the border.
Russia’s Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia has also expressed concern over the expanding influence of ISKP in Afghanistan, warning that the group’s activities represent a wider regional security threat.
UN Security Council monitoring reports have consistently highlighted the continued presence of ISKP in Afghanistan and the destabilising impact of Afghan-based militant groups on neighbouring states. Pakistani officials maintain that these findings validate Islamabad’s long-standing position that Afghanistan has become a safe haven for terror groups whose activities threaten Pakistan and the wider region.
