Peshawar school attack mastermind killed in US drone strike

Officials said Umar Mansour alias Umar Naray was killed along with another militant leader, Qari Saifullah, in the Bandar area of Afghanistan.

In this December 17, 2014 photo, a soldier stands inside the Army Public School, which was attacked by Taliban gunmen, in Peshawar.

The mastermind of the Pakistani Taliban >attack on an Army school in Peshawar that left over 140 schoolchildren dead in 2014 has been killed in a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan, security officials said.

Officials said Umar Mansoor alias Umar Naray was killed along with another militant leader, Qari Saifullah, in the drone attack in the Bandar area of Afghanistan’s Nangarhar Province on Saturday.

An official said they had credible reports of Mansour having been killed with Saifullah, who was in charge of Taliban suicide bombers, the

Dawn reported.

“What we have is pretty credible,” he was quoted as saying in the report.

The massacre on December 16, 2014, left 144 students and staff members dead after seven gunmen of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) stormed the Army Public School in the northwestern Pakistani city.

The U.S. State Department, on May 25, designated Umar Mansour as a global terrorist, clearing the path for his inclusion in its hit list.

There was no confirmation of Mansour’s death from either the TTP or any independent source. If true, his death would be a severe blow to the terror group.

Mansour, because of his violent and major terrorist attacks, was regarded by Pakistani security agencies as a major threat.