APS mastermind Umar Mansoor killed in US drone strike in Afghanistan: sources

KABUL: A US drone strike in Afghanistan has resulted in the death of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commandar Umar Mansoor, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

The drone strike targeting militants in Paktia province of Afghanistan killed at least 35 people on Tuesday. Reports within Afghan media suggest that the TTP chief Umar Mansoor was killed in the attack.

Umar Mansoor had claimed responsibility for the December 16, 2014 Army Public School (APS) massacre and Bacha Khan University attack in Pakistan.

Usman Mansoor Hafizullah will replace Umar Mansoor as the TTP’s commander, TTP spokesman Muhammad Khorasani said in an email sent to journalists.

‘Nary’

After the APS attack, six Pakistani Taliban interviewed by Reuters confirmed the mastermind was Mansoor. Four of them said he is close to Mullah Fazlullah, the embattled leader of the fractious group who ordered assassins to kill schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai.

“Umar Mansoor had a tough mind from a very young age, he was always in fights with other boys,” said one Taliban member.

Mansoor had two brothers and spent some time working in the city of Karachi as a laborer before joining the Taliban soon after it was formed, in late 2007, one commander had said.

His nickname was “nary,” a word in the Pashto language meaning “slim”, and he was the father of two daughters and a son, said another commanders.