The Chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council on Friday said that suicide attacks in Afghanistan are permitted as long as US forces are present in the country.
"Palestine is occupied by Israel, Kashmir by India, and Afghanistan by the US. So if the Muslims don't have the atomic bomb, they should sacrifice their lives for God," head of Pakistan Ulema Council Alama Tahir Ashrafi said in an interview with TOLOnews.
"We are asking America to leave the region in order for the region to become peaceful," he added.
Afghanistan's Ulema Council has rejected his comments, stressing that suicide attacks are unlawful under Islam.
"Pakistan does has the atomic bomb, so why are they carrying out suicide attacks? Suicide bombing is unlawful in Islam religion," member of Afghanistan's Ulema council Abdul Qayoub Hafiz told TOLOnews.
Afghan political analyst Mir Ahmad Joyenda said Ashrafi's comments show that Pakistan's Ulema supports the insurgency.
"I think they don't know enough about Islam or they are supporting Pakistan's intelligence office jobs. There is nothing about the suicide attacks in Islam. They [the Ulema] are permitting suicide bombings and showing their support," he said.
It comes after Pakistan's council of religious clerics recently announced that they will not attend a planned joint Ulema summit between the two countries to build support against suicide bombings and facilitate the Afghan peace process.
In an official letter addressed to the Afghan clerics, Mufti Abu Huraira Mohiuddin, head of the Pakistani clerics, said they are not willing to criticise any of the Afghan Taliban's past activities, nor would they issue a fatwa against them. The Pakistani council had previously said that they wanted the Taliban to also attend the conference.
The religious conference between Kabul and Islamabad was agreed on about three months ago in a meeting between Afghan and Pakistani government officials.