Posing proudly in front of a Taliban banner declaring ‘There is no God but Allah’, this is the hand-picked suicide cell responsible for the cold-blooded slaughter of 132 schoolchildren.

Clutching an array of rocket launchers and machine guns, the crazed gunmen are shown both in traditional clothing of Taliban fighters and the Pakistan military uniforms they wore to avoid suspicion immediately before storming the Army School in Peshawar.

The pictures – apparently taken in the hours before Tuesday’s attack – were released yesterday by the Taliban, together with a threat to carry out similar attacks despite the outrage at the horrific, carefully planned massacre in which 132 children and more than a dozen teachers were killed.

In an email released this morning, Khurasani attempted to justify the attack by claiming that the Pakistani army has long killed the innocent children and families of Taliban fighters.

But he vowed more such militant attacks and told Pakistani civilians to detach themselves from all military institution, adding: 'We are still able to carry out major attacks. This was just the trailer.'

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Depraved: The Taliban gunmen who slaughtered 148 innocent people, including 132 children, are pictured just hours before the massacre. The white banner they pose in front of is the flag of the Pakistani Taliban and reads: 'There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is Allah’s Messenger’

In disguise: The photographs show the six heavily armed men wearing both traditional clothing of Taliban fighters and the Pakistan military uniforms they wore to avoid suspicion before storming the school

Killers: Photographs of the six men responsible for murdering 132 children were released by the Taliban this morning, along with an emailed statement revealing the terrorists plan more attacks at schools in Pakistan

Militants: All six gunmen were shot dead by Pakistan security officials - but not until they'd killed 132 children

Warped: These two-cold blooded killers stare menacingly into the camera before carrying out the massacre

Armed: Released by the terror group's spokesman Mohammad Khurasani a third group shot shows the same men wearing full military fatigues - an outfit that would outed them as Taliban to security guards

Terror leader: Maulana Fazlullah - the firebrand militant, whose thick black beard reaches halfway down his chest - took control of the Pakistani Taliban 13 months ago

In the email, the terror group warned Muslims to avoid places with military ties, saying it attacked the school to avenge the deaths of children allegedly killed by soldiers in tribal areas.

It accused the students at the army school of 'following the path of their fathers and brothers to take part in the fight against the tribesmen' nationwide.

The warning came as the Prince of Wales joined the international condemnation of the attack, describing it as ‘sickening’ and a ‘horrific reminder that Muslims themselves are the victims of the violent intolerance of the extremists’.

Speaking at the Syrian Orthodox Church in London, Prince Charles added: ‘The many, many families in Pakistan who have lost children, other relatives, friends and colleagues in the massacre are in my prayers.’

The Peshawar atrocity is said to have been ordered by Maulana Fazlullah, head of the Taliban in Pakistan and the man who ordered the shooting of teenage education campaigner Malala Yousafzai, this year’s winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Fazlullah is understood to have demanded that his lieutenant Umar Naray managed the operation, and communicated with the gunmen directly from his base over the border in Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s army chief of staff, Raheel Sharif, flew to Kabul to seek help in tracking him down.

'His communications have been intercepted as well which helped security agencies in tracing his location and whereabouts which was urgently shared not only with the Afghan army but also with Nato forces,' a security source was quoted as telling Peshawar's Dawn newspaper.

The firebrand militant, whose thick black beard reaches halfway down his chest, took control of the Pakistani Taliban 13 months ago. It is thought the massacre may have been his barbaric revenge for Malala, 17, being award the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this year.

Whatever his twisted motive, Fazlullah has succeeded in uniting the world in revulsion once again.

Tahira Kazi (left), the principal of the Army Public School and College in Peshawar, was set on fire by jihadists who slaughtered 148 people, most of them children

A Pakistani woman holds up a placard showing a number of the victims of the savage Taliban attack

Tragic: Among the victims of the slaughter are (from left to right) Talha Munur Paracha, Rafiq Bangash, Hassan Javed Khan and Muhammad Yasseen

Victims: Rafiq Bangash (left) and Mubeen Shah Afreedi (right) were among the children slaughtered by jihadis

Murdered: Mubeen Shah Afreedi and Mohammad Ali were slaughtered by the Taliban in Peshawar

Friends took to social media to pay tribute to Amish Salman, who was among the murdered Class 9 pupils

In a society usually reluctant to criticise the Taliban, there was an outpouring of anger across Pakistan yesterday.

At a vigil in the capital Islamabad, Fatimah Khan, 38, said: ‘I don’t have words for my pain and anger. They slaughtered those children like animals.’

Naba Mehdi, 16, had a message of defiance for the Taliban.

‘We’re not scared of you,’ she said. ‘We will still study and fight for our freedom. This is our war.’

As the photographs of the murders were released by the Pakistani Taliban, all six men were named on Twitter. But their personal details have not yet been independently verified.

The government in Islamabad immediately responded by instructing schools across the country to increase their security and to rehearse escape routines.

It came as mass funerals took place across Peshawar on the first of three days of national mourning and as Pakistan’s prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, ordered a moratorium on the death penalty to be lifted for terror-related cases.

Government spokesman Mohiuddin Wan said: 'It was decided that this moratorium should be lifted. The prime minister approved... Black warrants [execution orders] will be issued within a day or two.'

Harrowing: A blood-splattered doorway leading to an auditorium at the school in Peshawar, with spectacles on the floor belonging to one of the victims of the massacre

Shocking: The scene of the final gun battle between the jihadists and Pakistani soldiers

Devastation: Mrs Kazi's office, where a terrorist blew himself up during a nine-hour rampage

Horror: This morning the first devastating images emerged of the blood-soaked classrooms where 132 innocent children and nine teachers were massacred by the Taliban

Carnage: A journalist surveys the staff office at the Army Public School attacked by the Taliban in Peshawar

Sombre: Pakistani soldiers secure the Army Public School that was attacked by the Taliban militants

The moratorium on civilian executions had been in place since 2008. Only one execution has taken place since then.

Amid harrowing scenes, dozens of small wooden coffins were carried for burial together with those of their teachers. Rows of children and fellow pupils stood in silence, some weeping, their hands clasped in front of them beside the lines of caskets draped in blankets.

People across the country lit candles and held vigils for the 148 who were killed – seven more of the critically injured died in hospital yesterday.

‘They finished in minutes what I had lived my whole life for – my son,’ said labourer Akhtar Hussain, tears streaming down his face as he buried 14-year-old Fahad.

He said he had worked for years in Dubai to earn a livelihood for his children, adding: ‘That innocent one is now gone in the grave, and I can’t wait to join him, I can’t live any more.’

Among the best attended of the funerals was that of teacher Afsha Ahmed, 24, who confronted the gunmen when they burst into her classroom and told them: ‘You can only kill my students over my dead body.’

She was burned alive as she stood in front of her pupils.

This first funeral ceremonies for victims of the attack on the Army Public School took place this afternoon

Dozens of mourners gather in Peshawar to pay tribute to victims of the Army school massacre

Supporters of the Pakistan People's Party take to the streets in protest after the horrific Taliban attack

Anger: Pakistani men take to the streets to protest against the Taliban's savage murder of 132 schoolchildren

Prayer: Dozens of men gather in Peshawar to say prayers for those killed in the Peshawar terror attack

The family of another teacher torched alive in front of her class gathered to say funeral prayers.

Tahira Kazi, the principal of the Army Public School and College in Peshawar, was set on fire by jihadists who slaughtered so many.

It is believed she was targeted because she is married to a retired army colonel, Kazi Zafrullah. The picture obtained by MailOnline shows her standing proudly next to a student believed to be her son.

Prime Minister Sharif said Pakistan stood united to ensure the deaths of the children were not wasted, after a meeting of all party leaders in Peshawar. He promised that in military action, there would be no distinction between ‘good and bad’ Taliban.

BRITAIN HAS BEEN 'DAYS AWAY' FROM A TERRORIST ATROCITY Britain has been just ‘days away’ from a terrorist atrocity like the Sydney siege, the UK’s top policeman said yesterday. Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said five terror plots in London had been foiled in the past four months alone, including one gang who came ‘very, very close’ before the security services pounced. The Scotland Yard chief said on LBC Radio there was ‘no doubt’ there were extremists in the UK as dangerous as the gunman behind the Sydney siege, and some plotters had been ‘very close to hurting somebody badly, or killing them’. Advertisement

‘We have resolved to continue the war against terrorism till the last terrorist is eliminated,’ Mr Sharif said. ‘We must not forget these scenes. The way they left bullet holes in the bodies of innocent kids, the way they tore apart their faces with bullets.’

He said he spoke to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to discuss how both countries could do more to fight terrorism. Significantly, the two agreed to launch operations on their respective sides of the border, and pledged to ‘clean this region from terrorism’.

Yesterday, the first devastating images also emerged of the blood-soaked classrooms where 132 innocent children and nine teachers were massacred by the Taliban.

Horrifying pictures revealed the carnage wrought by seven extremist gunmen who sprayed children with bullets as they sat receiving first aid tuition and exploded suicide bombs in a room of 60 pupils.

Pictures of a blood splattered doorway leading to an auditorium and the scene of the final gun battle also emerged.

In a grim tour of the building photographers were shown inside the auditorium.

The floor is caked in blood in places and dozens of chairs lie in disarray, knocked over by children running for cover as the terrorists hosed them with bullets.

The lucky ones, it transpired, survived by playing dead under these chairs as the gunmen stalked the room, searching for children they'd missed.

Tragic scene: Pakistani journalists film and photograph inside an auditorium of the Army Public School

Chairs are upturned and blood stains the floor at the Army Public School auditorium

Survivor Ehsan Elahi told how gunmen burst into the auditorium and fired at children for a full 10 minutes

Army commandos fought the Taliban in a day-long battle until the school was cleared and the attackers dead

Books and note paper litter the floor of the school, dropped as children ran for their lives

Nightmare scene: The pictures of the school's interior emerged as Pakistan began three days of mourning

A local reporter walks past a damaged wall of the Army Public School, riddled with bullet holes

Bleak: Pakistani soldiers walk amidst the debris as a journalist takes pictures behind them

Barbaric act: The terrorists left the school walls scarred with bullet holes as they went on their rampage

The barbaric slaughter at the Peshawar school was ordered by the Taliban's leader Maulana Fazlullah, who took over the running of the group last November.

Born Fazal Hayat in 1974 in the Swat Valley, Fazlullah is a member of the Yousafzai tribe - the same group of ethnic Pashtuns from which Malala takes her surname.

Aged 18 he became the leader of the local terror group Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi after its leadership was decimated by arrests following the September 11 attacks in New York.

Killer: The slaughter of 132 children at a school in Pakistan was ordered by Maulana Fazlullah

In the hope of cementing his legitimacy as leader, Fazlullah married the daughter of Sufi Muhammad, who founded Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi in 2002. Rumours that his henchmen kidnapped the bride and forced her to marry him have dogged Fazlullah ever since.

While in jail, Muhammad ordered Fazlullah to adopt his new name and sent him reams of radical Islamic literature designed to assist and guide his son in law.

By the time Muhammad was released from prison in 2008, Fazlullah's leadership was secure enough for its founder not to resume control.

Later that year Fazlullah allied Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi with the Pakistani Taliban, and he started taking direct orders from Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud.

This relationship would allow Fazlullah to become increasingly close to senior figures in the terror group.

While taking orders from the Pakistani Taliban, Fazlullah controlled more than 4,000 fighters - helping him to effectively run a parallel government in the Swat Valley and impose strict Sharia law across 57 villages.

It was while governing the Swat Valley that Fazlullah began using FM radio stations to broadcast his firebrand sermons in the area, earning him the nickname Radio Mullah.

His rantings about 'sins' such as television, music, and computers were deemed compulsory listening among the villagers as the Taliban imposed a rigorous version of Islamic law, publicly beheading and flogging wrongdoers and burning schools.

Maulana Fazlullah's previous crimes include ordering the murder of campaigner Malala Yousafzai (pictured)

Later in 2007 the Pakistani military forced the band of jihadis out of Swat Valley and arrested Fazlullah's brother. Fazlullah fled to Afghanistan where he was believed to have been seriously injured in 2009 before returning to Swat.

That same year Fazlullah told BBC's Urdu Service that he planned to launch fresh attacks on the Pakistani military in the area.

Over the following three years Fazlullah's band of militants carried near constant cross-border raids on the Swat Valley and seized more and more territory along the frontier region. In 2012 Reuters indicated that Fazlullah controlled a 12 miles stretch of land in Afghanistan's Nuristan province.

It was during this time that Fazlullah ordered the death of Malala Yousafzai - the teenage education campaigner who almost died when a masked gunman in Swat Valley jumped into a vehicle taking girls home from school and shouted 'Who is Malala?' before shooting her in the head.

Last November Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud was killed by a U.S. drone strike, leading to the Taliban's supreme council electing Fazlullah as its new head.

Since then, the militant has specialised in the kind attention grabbing savagery that deflects attention away from the Taliban's declining influence in Swat Valley, which has been eroded by bitter feuds broke out with local clans - including the traditionally dominant Mehsud tribe.

Fazlullah has also found his power reined in by the Pakistani military's fresh push into the Taliban's former North Waziristan stronghold.

Rise to power: Maulana Fazlullah was elected as head of the Pakistani Taliban after the death in a U.S. drone strike of long-term leader Hakimullah Mehsud (pictured centre in brown hat)

In September Fazlullah also declared the Taliban's support for the Islamic State and vowed to send fighters to assist the terror group as it was wages bloody war in Syria and Iraq.

'Oh our brothers, we are proud of you in your victories. We are with you in your happiness and your sorrow,' Pakistani Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said in a statement issued to mark the Muslim holy festival of Eid al-Adha.

'In these troubled days, we call for your patience and stability, especially now that all your enemies are united against you. Please put all your rivalries behind you,' he added.

'All Muslims in the world have great expectations of you . We are with you, we will provide you with Mujahideen [fighters] with every possible support,' he said.

Yesterday's brutal massacre of schoolchildren is widely seen as an attempt by Fazlullah to prove to his rivals that the Taliban is still a relevant force.

The strategy may not be particularly well thought out, however, as it is only likely to add to the tribal divisions that have drastically weakened the group over the past year.