Claim: Aimal Wali Khan, President of the Awami National Party (ANP), threatened Maulana Hamid ul-Haq days before he died in a blast at Darul Uloom Haqqania.
Fact: The claim that Aimal Wali Khan threatened Maulana Hamid ul-Haq days before his killing is misleading. The video is from November 2020, and unrelated to the attack on Darul Uloom Haqqania. Moreover, the ANP leader criticised Maulana Hamid ul-Haq and his father Maulana Sami ul-Haq in his statement, likely for their pro-Taliban policies. He did not issue any threat.
Following the suicide bombing at Darul Uloom Haqqania in Nowshera, social media users began sharing a video (archive) of Aimal Wali Khan speaking in Pashto with the caption: “ایمل ولی پشتو میں دھمکی دے کر کہہ رہا ہے، سمیع الحق کے بیٹے مولانا حامد الحق سے کہہ رہا ہوں کہ اپنی زبان کو لگام دو ورنہ تمہارا انجام بھی وہی ہوگا جو تمہارے باپ کا ہوا تھا۔
یہ ویڈیو کل دھماکے سے پہلے کی ہے”
[Translation: Aimal Wali is issuing a threat in Pashto, saying, “I am telling Sami ul-Haq’s son, Maulana Hamid ul-Haq, to control his tongue, or else he will meet the same fate as his father.”
This video is from before yesterday’s explosion.]
Ibrahim Zauq, a cinematographer at our sister company Soch Videos, translated the video’s content for us, which aligned with the viral post’s caption. He explained that in the video, Aimal Wali Khan says, “I want to tell Sami ul-Haq’s son to control his tongue, or else his fate will be the same as his father’s. If the curses of the Pashtoons come after you… The way he [Sami ul-Haq] met his end, even a Pashtoon wouldn’t wish for such an end.”
Qasim Khan Suri, Former Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and a PTI member, also shared the video (archive) on Facebook, writing, “
مولانا حامد الحق اپنی زبان کو لگام دو ورنہ تمہارا انجام بھی وہی ہو گا جو تمہارے باپ کا ہوا تھا۔ ایمل ولی
یہ ویڈیو کل کے دھماکے سے پہلے کی ہے، میلو نے افغان طالبان کے ساتھ مذاکراتی جرگے کے سربراہ مولانا حامد الحق شہید کو کس کا پیغام دیا تھا؟ کون پاک-افغان امن دشمن ہے؟”
[Translation: Maulana Hamid ul-Haq, control your tongue, or else you will meet the same fate as your father. – Aimal Wali
This video is from before yesterday’s explosion. What message did Melo convey to Martyr Maulana Hamid ul-Haq, the head of the negotiation jirga with the Afghan Taliban? Who is the enemy of Pak-Afghan peace?]
Darul Uloom Haqqania attack
On 28 February, a suicide bombing at the Darul Uloom Haqqania after Friday prayers, killed at least six persons in northwestern Pakistan, including the influential head of the seminary, Maulana Hamid ul-Haq. The attack left another 18 people injured. The seminary, known for its historical ties to the Taliban, has been referred to as the “University of Jihad” due to its notable alumni including the founder of the Haqqani Network Jalaluddin Haqqani, and his son Sirajuddin Haqqani.
The explosion occurred when Hamid ul-Haq was leaving the mosque after the prayers. The provincial police chief, Zulfiqar Hameed, confirmed that an investigation was underway. While no group claimed responsibility for the attack, suspicions have fallen on the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), a regional affiliate of the Islamic State group. IS-K has previously targeted religious institutions and leaders associated with the Taliban government in Kabul. The Taliban also accused IS-K of the attack.
“President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the blast and expressed his sorrow,” reported Aaj News. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also condemned the attack, calling it a “cowardly and heinous act of terrorism.”
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched keyframes of the video to find the full version and understand its context. We found that the YouTube account “Charsadda Journalist” had shared the video as early as 18 November 2020.
According to Ibrahim Zauq, who reviewed the longer version of the video as well, Aimal Wali Khan primarily criticised the policies of Maulana Sami ul-Haq, stating that they ultimately harmed his own family. He explained that the ANP president pointed out how Sami ul-Haq had once supported such militant outfits, such as the Taliban and the Haqqani Network, and now his own family is facing the consequences. At no point in the video does Aimal Wali Khan issue a threat to Maulana Hamid ul-Haq.
We then found a report about the ANP president’s statement published by Taand, a Pashto news website, on 12 November 2020, which stated that Aimal Wali Khan had accused Maulana Sami ul-Haq of making Pashtun blood cheap. The news article seemingly reports on the tensions between the ANP leader and the head of the religious seminary.
The article reported that Aimal Wali Khan had said that Pashtuns made sacrifices because they stood against Maulana Sami ul-Haq’s spiritual disciples. While the article does not explicitly state it, he was likely referring to the Taliban. Khan also referred to statements made by Maulana Sami ul-Haq’s son, Hamid ul-Haq, and stated that he would no longer allow anyone to derail efforts for Afghan peace, the article added.
The same report further stated that in the past, Hamid ul-Haq had told the Afghan government that they were not capable of fighting the Taliban and that the best course of action would be to surrender.
Historically, the Awami National Party (ANP) and the Haqqani family have been at odds, particularly in matters pertaining to Afghanistan and the Taliban. In the past, ANP leader Asfandyar Wali Khan voiced his support for US-led peace talks in 2011 and later reiterated in 2020 that peace in Pakistan was tied to stability in Afghanistan. On the other hand, Maulana Sami ul-Haq notably had longstanding ties with the Afghan Taliban leadership.
Known as the “Father of the Taliban,” Haq has previously boasted of advising Taliban’s founder, Mullah Omar, and has played a key role in the movement’s rise by sending students from his madrassa to fight for the Taliban in the 1990s. In 2021, Hamid ul-Haq described the Taliban’s victory as the triumph of his father’s ideology and announced plans to celebrate “Youm-e-Tashkkur” thanking Allah for the Taliban’s success on 27 August 2021. He also called on the international community to immediately recognise the Taliban government and resume diplomatic relations.
While both Sami ul-Haq and Hamid ul-Haq maintained strong ties with the Taliban, the ANP has consistently opposed the group. In July 2024, ANP member Mian Iftikhar Hussain stated, “Any strategy to combat militancy would only succeed if implemented without distinguishing between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Taliban.” This fundamental difference in stance on the Taliban and other militant groups, such as the TTP, has led to frequent tensions and clashes between them.
A keyword search for credible news reports on Aimal Wali Khan issuing threats to Hamid ul-Haq did not yield any results confirming that the claim is misleading.
Therefore, based on the Taand report and Zauq’s interpretation of the statement, Soch Fact Check concludes that Aimal Wali Khan did not issue any threat to Hamid ul-Haq. Rather, he was criticising Maulana Hamid ul-Haq and his father, Maulana Sami ul-Haq, likely for their pro-Taliban policies. Moreover, the video of the ANP leader is from 2020 and he did not make these statements days before the killing of Maulana Hamid ul-Haq.
Virality
The claim was shared here, here, here, here, here, and here on Facebook. Archived here, here, here, here, here, and here.
On X, it was shared here, here, here, and here. Archived here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The claim that Aimal Wali Khan threatened Maulana Hamid ul-Haq days before his death is misleading. The video in the claim is from November 2020 and is unrelated to the Darul Uloom Haqqania attack. While the ANP leader criticised Sami ul-Haq’s past policies, he did not issue a direct threat.
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Background image in cover photo: Pakistan Today
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