Khalifa umar mansoor terrorist

A US drone strike in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan killed the mastermind of the ruthless 2014 massacre at the Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistani military and US officials revealed on July 13.

The death of Khalifa Omar Mansoor, a leading commander of the Pakistani Taliban (or TTP), may come as an irreparable loss to the already weakened TTP led by Mullah Fazlullah, experts say.

Amongst his Taliban fellows, the long-haired militant with a flowing chest-length beard is known as Umar Naray, or Umar the Slim.

Khalifa umar mansoor terrorist attack

Once a leader of TTP’s Geedar (Jackal) group operating in Peshawar, Darra Adam Khel and the surrounding towns, he became increasingly important to Mullah Fazlullah as other top commanders began to leave him in the last few years.

A volleyball enthusiast and a father of three, he had been hiding across the border in Afghanistan.

Locals say he used to cross over to the tribal areas occasionally.

"We will continue to attack schools," he had said. "They produce apostat