Charsadda attack reveals cracks in Taliban outfit: Xinhua

BEIJING, January 27: The attack last week on a Pakistani university that killed more than 20 students, teachers and security guards has further divided the Taliban group as one of its commanders quickly claimed responsibility while its central spokesman denied any involvement, Chinese media reported.
Commander Omar Mansoor, who is considered the most hardliner among the Taliban commanders, appeared in a pre-recorded video along with four attackers, to claim responsibility for the January 20 attack.
Hours later, however, the central spokesman for the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group, Mohammad Khorasani, said the group had no role in the attack and that those involved will be tried in a Taliban court.
Many in Pakistan would doubt Khorasani’s denial as he had approved several previous attacks that were organised by the Taliban unit led by Omar Mansoor. The attacks on the army-run school in Peshawar in December in 2014 and on a Pakistan Air Force facility in September near Peshawar were carried out by Mansoor’s Taliban in Darra Adam Khel, a tribal area near Peshawar. The TTP claimed responsibility for both the attacks.
The TTP’s spokesman, who routinely takes responsibility for their attacks, denying the assault on the Bacha Khan University in Charsadda district, indicates further cracks in the ranks of the Pakistani Taliban, the Chinese Xinhua news agency said in a news analysis.-DNA