A high-level Pakistani delegation, led by former spy chief Lt General Faiz Hameed, has reportedly visited Kabul and held peace talks there with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a banned Islamist militant group, waging war against the Pakistan state in its northwestern tribal region.

Although no official statement was released by either side on the peace talks, a number of media reports and Afghan journalists confirmed the presence of General Faiz Hameed, currently the commander of the Peshawar Corp, in Kabul’s Serena Hotel. Negotiations are reportedly brokered by the Afghan Taliban.

“There is a Pakistani delegation in Kabul that’s holding talks with the Afghan government, who are the mediator for the peace talks with the TTP,” Iftikhar Firdous, a senior Pakistan journalist, tweeted, citing his sources, who described the talks as “snail-paced” negotiation.

Al-Jazeera journalist Suddaf Chaudry and senior Afghan journalist Bilal Sarwary also confirmed the presence of the former ISI chief in the Serena Hotel.

The TTP, also known as the Pakistan Taliban, shares fraternal and ideological ties with the Afghan Taliban. In the last few months, the group has stepped up its attacks on the Pakistan security forces.
“30 TTP prisoners (who were) sentenced to death and sentenced to life in prison were freed by the Pak govt. ‘Prisoners were freed in Pak, TTP spoke to them on the phone and they have reached their homes,’” Sarwary, tweeted.

Known for his connections with the Afghan Taliban leader, General Faiz reached Kabul on Monday, weeks after Pakistan conducted airstrikes in the border region of Afghanistan to target the TTP leader—a move that sparked tensions between Islamabad and its former benefactor, the Taliban.

Contrary to Pakistan’s expectations, the TTP, which enjoys safe haven and operational freedom in the Taliban’s ruled Afghanistan, mounted deadly attacks, some from inside Afghanistan, in the country’s border region.

Significantly, the attacks by the TTP in the last few weeks have reduced significantly, as a result of the ceasefire announced last month, reportedly brokered by the intervention of the Afghan Taliban and tribal elders.
Earlier attempts to broker a peace deal with the TTP failed as the government had refused to accept what many described were the wide-ranging demands by the group. (SAM)