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Pakistan Province Gives $3 Million to Taliban-Linked School
Source: Associated Press
Pakistan Province Gives $3 Million to Taliban-Linked School
By RIAZ KHAN AND ASIF SHAHZAD, ASSOCIATED PRESS PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Jun 23, 2016, 12:45 PM ET
A Pakistani provincial government has allocated $3 million to a Taliban-linked seminary in a volatile region bordering Afghanistan, a local official said Thursday, sparking criticism from the central government in Islamabad and secular groups.
The hard-line religious school — Darul Uloom Haqqania — in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is known as the alma mater of most of the Afghan Taliban leadership and its affiliated Haqqani militant network, branded a terrorist organization by the U.S.
According to one of the province's ministers, Mushtaq Ghani, the funds are to be used to bring the seminary into Pakistan's mainstream educational system. The budget allocation to the seminary was approved by the provincial assembly Wednesday.
The school's clerics teach a hard-line curriculum and preach jihad, or holy war, to nearly 4,000 students. It is run by Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, dubbed "the father of the Taliban," who publicly speaks up in support of the Afghan Taliban and justifies their war against the United States and NATO allies.
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By RIAZ KHAN AND ASIF SHAHZAD, ASSOCIATED PRESS PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Jun 23, 2016, 12:45 PM ET
A Pakistani provincial government has allocated $3 million to a Taliban-linked seminary in a volatile region bordering Afghanistan, a local official said Thursday, sparking criticism from the central government in Islamabad and secular groups.
The hard-line religious school — Darul Uloom Haqqania — in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is known as the alma mater of most of the Afghan Taliban leadership and its affiliated Haqqani militant network, branded a terrorist organization by the U.S.
According to one of the province's ministers, Mushtaq Ghani, the funds are to be used to bring the seminary into Pakistan's mainstream educational system. The budget allocation to the seminary was approved by the provincial assembly Wednesday.
The school's clerics teach a hard-line curriculum and preach jihad, or holy war, to nearly 4,000 students. It is run by Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, dubbed "the father of the Taliban," who publicly speaks up in support of the Afghan Taliban and justifies their war against the United States and NATO allies.
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Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/pakistan-province-million-taliban-linked-school-40073381
