Pakistani Taliban ends ceasefire
Kamran Yousaf
Press TV, Islamabad
Pakistan-based Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, has unilaterally announced an end to a ceasefire with the government.
It was only last month that the Pakistani government and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan announced a ceasefire. The two sides also agreed to start talks to strike a peace deal. But the process seems to have hit a deadlock as the Pakistani Taliban unilaterally pulled out of the ceasefire. In a statement, the group blamed the Pakistani government.
The Taliban say that the Pakistani government did not release its prisoners as part of the initial understanding. It also accused Pakistani security forces of violating the ceasefire by conducting raids and arrests against TTP members.
The Afghan Taliban has acted as a mediator between the Pakistani government and the TTP. The public opinion in Pakistan over seeking peace with a group which carried out some of the deadliest attacks is divided.
The TTP was formed in 2007 and since then it has carried out many attacks in Pakistan. Most of the TTP members took refugee in Afghanistan after Pakistan carried out military operation in the erstwhile tribal areas.
After the Afghan Taliban took control of Kabul, Pakistan has since been trying to find a political way out of the problem.
The government has not yet officially responded to the unilateral move by the Pakistani Taliban. Observers believe there are grim chances of any peace deal between Pakistan and the group in the near future.
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