Uzbekistan based Islamic group justifies Peshawar school carnage

The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) - a Central Asian terror organisation and a Taliban ally - has issued a statement justifying the cold-blooded slaughter of 132 school children and nine staff members of an army-run school in Peshawar on Dec 26.

According to a document available to Pakistan media, the group said in the statement that the operation was carried out in response to "countless atrocities" committed by the Pakistan army, including "killing the wives and children of Muslims, imprisoning, raping and disgracing their honor and selling them to the kufr governments for several years."

The IMU described the Peshawar strike as "the first of the series of the expected military operations against the schools and college systems run by the American dogs- also known as Pakistani faujis (army)."

The group said that the Peshawar school attack was a consequence of the Pakistan army's military operation Zarb-e-Azb that had killed and displaced thousands of Taliban members and their families.

It defended the carnage saying that in the wake of atrocities committed against the mujahids and their families, "the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan recognizes the martyrdom operation in Peshawar as justified and defensive one."

The outfit further stated "the IMU does not conceal the enormous happiness its members felt after hearing the casualties of the Pakistan army.