Peshawar school attack mastermind killed in air strike, confirms Pentagon
Washington, July 14
A top Pakistani Taliban militant leader, the mastermind of the Bachha Khan university attack and Peshawar school massacre that left around 150 people dead, has been killed along with four other associates in a US airstrike in Afghanistan, the Pentagon has confirmed.
Umar Khalifa, a known terrorist leader with the Tariq Gidar Group, was killed in Nangarhar province over the weekend, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said yesterday.
“On July 9 Umar Khalifa was killed along with four other enemy combatants in a US Forces-Afghanistan airstrike targeting Islamic State - Khorasan Province members in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan,” Cook said.
Khalifa, also known as Umar Narai, orchestrated multiple terrorist operations in Pakistan including the January 2016 attack on Bacha Khan University, the September 2015 Badaber Air Force Base attack and the December 2014 Peshawar school attack that resulted in the deaths of about 150 people, mostly children, he said. — PTI
