Talks ongoing with Pakistani Taliban: Khan

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has announced a three-week ceasefire, starting from October 2I.

The outlawed militant out made the announcement hours after Prime Minister Imran Khan said his government was in talks with TTP.

A TTP faction confirmed reconciliation talks with the government were underway. A tribal leader from North Waziristan also verified the negotiations.

The Pakistani Taliban are said to have demanded the merger of the former tribal areas, permission for commanders to carry weapons and release of its prisoners.

An 11-member TTP delegation has been in talks with the government, with some influential Afghan Taliban leaders and tribal elders acting as mediators.

Also on Friday, PM Khan said the government was in talks with some TTP factions in an effort to achieve reconciliation.

He told the TRT World: “There are different groups which form the TTP and some of them want to talk to our government for peace. So, we are in talks with them.”

In response to a query, the premier said: “We might not reach some sort of conclusion or settlement in the end but we are talking.”

Asked whether the Afghan Taliban were acting as mediators, Khan replied: “Since the talks were taking place in Afghanistan, so in that sense, yes.”

Meanwhile, Pakistan People’s Party leader Nayyar Bokhari demanded that a session of parliament be called immediately to discuss the talks.

“The statement on forgiving TTP amounts to sprinkling salt on the wounds of martyrs’ relatives,” the PPP secretary-general remarked.

In a separate statement, PPP information secretary Shazia Marri said they “strongly condemned” the government for initiating such a big step without taking parliament into confidence.

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