(REUTERS): The banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has declined to extend the month-long ceasefire with the government, accusing the government of breaching terms, including a prisoner release agreement and the formation of negotiating committees.
Last month’s ceasefire was the latest in a series of attempts to broker a settlement to end a conflict that has killed thousands. The Afghan Taliban’s shock overthrow of the Western-backed government in August gave the talks fresh impetus but the TTP accused Islamabad of failing to respect the agreement.
A statement issued by the TTP late on Thursday gave out details of the six-point agreement that it said it had reached with the government under the aegis of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” (IEA) on Oct 25, 2021.
According to the agreement, the two sides had accepted that the IEA would play the role of a mediator and that both sides would form five-member committees each which would discuss the next course of action and demands of each sides.
Both sides, it said, had also agreed to observe a month-long ceasefire from Nov 1 to Nov 30, 2021 and that the government would release 102 “imprisoned mujahideen” and hand them over to the TTP through the “IEA and that both sides would issue a joint statement regarding the ceasefire on Nov 1, 2021”.
It also said security forces had carried out raids in Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat, Swat, Bajaur, Swabi and North Waziristan while the ceasefire was in force. “In these circumstances, it is not possible to advance the ceasefire,” the group said in a statement.
Earlier in an audio, Mufti Noor Wali Mahsud announced an end to the ceasefire and asked his fighters to resume attacks past 12am.
In the audio, Mufti Noor can be heard as saying that since the TTP has not heard back from the mediators or the government, therefore, past midnight, his fighters reserve the right to resume attacks wherever they were.
The TTP decision to end the ceasefire is a big setback to the government efforts to secure a peace agreement with the militants waging war against the state for decades.
Pakistan and the TTP entered into a truce starting November 9. The ceasefire was the result of a series of meetings held between the Pakistani officials and the TTP representatives in Afghanistan.
The talks were brokered by the Taliban government, particularly the Haqqani Network. Both sides held at least three rounds of talks—one in Kabul and the other two meetings took place in Khost.
Best known in the West for attacking Malala Yousafzai, the schoolgirl who went on to win the Nobel Prize for her work promoting girls’ education, the TTP has killed thousands of military personnel and civilians over the years in bombings and suicide attacks.
