MOSCOW, December 20 (Sputnik) – Umar Mansoor, 36, claimed responsibility for an attack on a school in Peshawar, Pakistan, which left 132 children and nine adults dead, Reuters reports.
Tehreek-e-Taliban described Mansoor as the leader of the Taliban in the Pakistani city of Peshawar and Darra Adam Khel, a town located between Peshawar and Kohat.
Mansoor is said to have joined Taliban in 2007, Reuters said, citing unnamed sources from the Taliban. He is nicknamed "nary", meaning slim in Pashto. "He was very strict from the start when he joined," a Taliban member told the news agency, adding that Mansoor "left many commanders behind if they had a soft corner (of their heart) for the government."
The mastermind behind the Peshawar massacre is also said to be an avid volleyball player. "He is a good volleyball player. Wherever he shifts his office, he puts a volleyball net up," a Taliban member said, as quoted by Reuters.
On Tuesday, militants from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) carried out an attack on the Peshawar school, killing 141 people, mostly children. Militants said they assaulted the school in retaliation for an operation carried out by the Pakistani army in North Waziristan and the Khyber area.
