The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a hardline Islamist group also known as the Pakistani Taliban that has been in violent confrontation with the Pakistani establishment,  has announced its decision not to extend its month-long ceasefire with the government after Prime Minister Imran Khan did not fulfill its earlier agreements. TTP's Mufti Noor Wali Mahsud announced an end to the ceasefire and asked his fighters to resume attacks past 12 am. The ceasefire had come into effect on November 9.

As per the agreement, both sides had agreed to observe a month-long ceasefire and the government had promised to release 102 “imprisoned mujahideen”.

According to TTP's statement issued on Thursday, a six-point agreement was reached with the government on October 25 this year. The two sides, according to the agreement, had accepted that the IEA would play the role of a mediator and that both sides would form five-member committees each which, under the supervision of the mediator, would discuss the next course of action and demands of each sides, Dawn reported.

The TTP said the government not only failed to implement the decisions reached between the two sides but to the contrary, the security forces conducted raids in Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat, Swat, Bajaur, Swabi and North Waziristan and killed and detained militants, Dawn reported.

The group said the government did not implement the decision on the contrary and the security forces conducted raids in Swat, Bajaur, Swabi, Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat and North Waziristan, and killed and detained militants.

The TTP and Afghan Taliban are allied, although maintain separate operation and command structures, according to Al Jazeera.  On November 14, acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi confirmed that the Afghan Taliban were acting as mediators in the talks between the TTP and the Pakistan  government. 

Since 2007, the TTP has carried out some of the deadliest attacks on Pakistani soil, targeting political leaders, civilians and security forces in wave after wave of suicide bombings, Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks, targeted killings and other forms of attacks, Al Jazeera said.

In 2014, the group claimed responsibility for an attack on a school in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing more than 140 people, including 132 schoolchildren. In 2021, the TTP and its allies have expanded their influence in Pakistan’s northwestern border regions with Afghanistan, residents say, with ominous cross-border consequences. 

Meanwhile, in another setback to the government, Pakistan's Human Rights Commission (HRCP) has condemned the arrest of veteran Baloch politician and president of Baloch Muttahida Mahaz (BMM), Mir Yousuf Masti Khan. The 80-year-old was arrested on Thursday on charges of making a "provocative and anti-state" speech at a protest in Gwadar. 

Gwadar residents have been staging a sit-in protest in support of their demands under the banner of 'Gwadar ko haq do'  (Restore rights for Gwadar residents) movement for the past 23 days targeted at the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multibillion-dollar project which the residents say has severely curtailed their movements, usurped the region's resources and disturbed their peace, without any gains for the city or the province, which the government had promised.  The protests were launched under the leadership of Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman, Balochistan General Secretary of Jamaat-i-Islami.

The HRCP, in a statement issued on Thursday, said "Mr Khan has done nothing more than demanding the state to give Gwadar residents civil, political and economic rights, to which they are entitled to. To charge Mr Khan under archaic and repressive colonial laws is undemocratic." (SAM)