Peshawar school attack mastermind killed in US drone strike

Peshawar

Officials said Umar Mansoor, alias Umar Naray, had been killed along with another militant leader Qari Saifullah, in the US drone attack in the Bandar area of Afghanistan's Nangarhar province on Saturday.

An official said they had credible reports of Mansoor 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 city of Peshawar.

The US State Department had on May 25 designated Umar Mansoor as a global terrorist, clearing the path for his inclusion in its hit-list.

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

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