The Pakistan government has confirmed—for the first time–that it was in talks with the banned militant group, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and welcomed the announcement of the “indefinite ceasefire” by the group. 

Over 120 security personnel have been killed in TTP attacks so far this year.

TTP, also known as the Pakistan Taliban, is waging a sustained insurgency against the Pakistan state in the northwestern tribal areas in Waziristan since 2007 when the group first emerged.

The group, which shares ideological and fraternal ties with the Afghan Taliban, has recently confirmed the peace talks and put forward a series of demands, including the withdrawal of the security forces from the erstwhile Federal Administered Tribal Area (FATA), now part of its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

“Talks with the TTP began in 2021 and these negotiations have been taking place at the government level,” Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb was quoted as saying by the Pakistan government. The Afghan Taliban, she confirmed, is acting as mediator.

Both the government and the representative of the Pakistani military are involved in the talks, Marriyum said, adding that any peace deal negotiated with the TTP would have parliamentary approval.
Significantly, the TTP attacks grew significantly last year after the Afghan Taliban captured power in Kabul, which allowed its top leaders and commanders sanctuaries across the border in Afghanistan.
The report said that the government has recently released some high-profile convicted TTP commanders and pardoned them in exchange for peace talks. The ceasefire, which expired on May 30, was further extended for an indefinite period by the TTP. No official confirmation, however, was issued regarding it.

Earlier this week, a delegation of the Pakistan tribal leaders, visited the Afghan capital Kabul and held talks with the TTP. The group demanded the rollback of the FATA reforms, “independent status” for northwestern tribal areas, and dismantling of what it says is the “western system and culture” from the region. 

The rollback in FATA reforms would mean the demerger of Waziristan and other erstwhile FATA regions from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, restriction on the applicability of the constitution in those areas, and the re-enactment of the colonial era-Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) that was abolished by the government in 2018.   

The government might find it hard to accept these demands by the TTP as ceding to them could invite the risk of emboldening other religious and extremist movements already happening elsewhere in the country.
(SAM)