Pakistan: Taliban commander Umar Mansoor promises further attacks on University 'nurseries' in fresh video

The Pakistani Taliban wing, or Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has released a new video promising further attacks nationwide after claiming responsibility for the murder of at least 21 people in an attack on Bacha Khan University in Charsadda on 20 January. The clip, which was released on Friday (22 January), shows Taliban faction commander Umar Mansoor making threats against schools, which he branded the "nurseries" of those who "challenge Allah's sovereignty".

Explaining the motive behind the terror attack, Mansoor said: "This is the place where lawyers are made, this is the place that produces military officers, this is the place that produces members of the parliament, all of whom challenge Allah's sovereignty". Alongside other terrorists who covered their faces with masks, Mansoor said the new strategy is to "target the nurseries that produce these people".

He added: "We will continue to attack schools, colleges and universities across Pakistan as these are the foundations that produce apostates. We will target and demolish the foundations".

Wednesday's deadly assault saw factions from the umbrella organisation of various Islamist militant groups storm the university campus in north-west Pakistan and open fire. Bacha Khan University is located just 30 miles (50km) from Peshawar, where the terrorist outfit slaughtered 130 students at a school in 2014.

"Now we will not kill the soldier in his cantonment, the lawyer in the court or the politician in parliament but in the places where they are prepared, the schools, the universities, the colleges that lay their foundation," Mansoor said in the video. "With the mercy of god, our attacks on all universities and schools will continue."

According to Reuters, Mansoor claimed that the group had targeted the educational institution as it prepared pupils to join government and army ranks. Doubts have been cast over Mansoor's claims of responsibility for the attack after TTP spokesman, Muhammad Khorasani, issued a statement condemning the terrorist assault, calling it "un-Islamic" and promised to bring the perpetrators to justice. The conflicting messages have led to rumours of a rift in the TTP leadership.