Al-Qaeda slams school massacre

PESHAWAR: Al-Qaeda’s regional branch say their hearts are “bursting with pain” over the Taliban’s massacre at a Pakistan school and have urged the militants to target only security forces.

“Our hearts are bursting with pain and grief over this incident,” said Osama Mehmood, the spokesman for al-Qaeda’s South Asia chapter.

“The list of crimes and atrocities of the Pakistani army has crossed the limit and it is true that this army is ahead of everyone in America’s slavery and genocide of Muslims, but it does not mean that we should seek revenge from oppressed Muslims,” Mehmood said yesterday.

“The guns that we have taken up against Allah’s enemy, America, and its pet rulers and slave army should not be aimed towards children, women and our Muslim people,” he added.

Al-Qaeda chief Ayman alZawahiri announced the creation of the new South Asia branch in September to “wage jihad” in Myanmar, Bangladesh and India.

The Afghan Taliban, which is loosely affiliated with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, has also condemned the attack, saying killing innocent children was against Islam.

Pakistan described the bloody rampage as its own “mini 9/11”, saying it was a game-changer in its fight against terrorism. The army has been waging a major offensive against Taliban and other militant strongholds in the restive tribal areas on the Afghan border for the past six months. – Sapa-AFP