Funeral held in Paktia for martyred Minister of Refugees Khalil Haqqani

Tight security measures were in place on Thursday in Garda Serai district in Paktia province for the funeral of martyred Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Khalil ur-Rahman Haqqani.

Khalil Haqqani was martyred in an explosion on Wednesday inside the ministry in Kabul.

The bombing was claimed by ISIS-K (Daesh).

Khalil Haqqani was the uncle of Afghanistan’s acting Minister of Interior Sirajuddin Haqqani, and the brother of Jalaluddin Haqqani, the founder of the Haqqani Network.

The funeral took place in Khalil Haqqani’s home province – where he was born in 1966.

Thousands of people from around the country attended the ceremony, including high-ranking officials. Among those in attendance was Sirajuddin Haqqani, who also addressed those present.

He said Khalil Haqqani had no personal enemies and that Allah will avenge his death.

On Thursday, messages of condolences and condemnation of the attack meanwhile poured in from around the world.

The UN Mission in Afghanistan was among those to condemn the ministry attack and said in a post on X: “There can be no place for terrorism in the quest for stability.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei also extended condolences to the bereaved families and wished a swift recovery for those injured in Wednesday’s blast, Press TV reported.

The United Arab Emirates also “strongly condemned the attack” at the Ministry of Refugees in Afghanistan.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) affirmed that “the UAE expresses its strong condemnation of these criminal acts and its permanent rejection of all forms of violence and terrorism aimed at undermining security and stability in contravention of international law.

“Furthermore, the Ministry expressed its sincere condolences and sympathy to Afghanistan and its people, and to the families of the victims of this attack, as well as its wishes for a speedy recovery for all the injured,” the statement read.

Afghanistan’s former president Hamid Karzai also expressed sadness over the “martyrdom” of Khalil Haqqani and said: “With great sorrow, I learned that Khalil Rahman Haqqani, Acting Minister of Refugees and Repatriation, along with a number of our compatriots, has been martyred in an explosion at this ministry.”

Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistan’s former CEO, also condemned the attack and said in a post on X: “We strongly condemn the terrorist attack on Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani and note that he was a member of an influential jihadi family in Afghanistan that played an important role in the jihad against the former Soviet invasion.

“We pray for the survivors and relatives of the late Haqqani and other martyrs of this incident,” he said.