PESHAWAR:
The members of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are said to be
divided over an extension in the one-month ceasefire that expired on
Monday, Taliban sources said.
“There are differences among various factions of the TTP on an extension in the ceasefire it had announced on March 1. Some of the factions are in favour of extending it as long as the peace talks are under way with the government. Others want to resume the attacks and seek revenge for the crackdown on Taliban militants and torture on their prisoners in Sindh province,” a senior leader and Shura member of the TTP told this correspondent from an undisclosed location on Monday.
Pleading anonymity, he said members of the Shura had been holding meetings for the past few days to build a consensus on an extension in the ceasefire but they could not reach a conclusion.
He said the Shura members were divided on the issue and a similar division could be found in the regional factions of the TTP in the tribal areas as well as in the settled districts.
“There is a reason why we are opposing an extension in the ceasefire. The day the government began the peace talks with us, we lost 66 people in fake encounters. Similarly, a day before the first direct meeting of the government and Taliban members in Bilandkhel village, the government shifted 80 of our prisoners from the Karachi Central Jail to Khairpur, Sukkur and Hyderabad prisons. The aim was to annoy the Taliban and sabotage the peace talks,” the Taliban leader claimed.
He felt that by shifting their prisoners to prisons in the interior of Sindh, the government wanted to make it difficult for their relatives and family members to meet them and learn about their condition in jails. He claimed it would also affect the trial of the prisoners in jails.
“We know that the PPP and MQM had been opposing the peace talks but we would like to know if the federal government is supporting the policy of the Sindh government of torturing the Taliban prisoners and shifting them to jails in the interior of Sindh. The federal government will have to explain or it will be difficult for the Taliban to unanimously build a consensus on an extension in the ceasefire,” the TTP leader explained.
Another senior member of the TTP said discussions were in progress about an extension in the ceasefire but no conclusion had yet been reached.He said majority of the Shura members were satisfied with the sincerity of the Nawaz Sharif government in holding the talks. However, he added that the government had no control over certain quarters who were opposed to the peace process. He said they were in touch with the government negotiation committee and would soon announce their future strategy.
“There are differences among various factions of the TTP on an extension in the ceasefire it had announced on March 1. Some of the factions are in favour of extending it as long as the peace talks are under way with the government. Others want to resume the attacks and seek revenge for the crackdown on Taliban militants and torture on their prisoners in Sindh province,” a senior leader and Shura member of the TTP told this correspondent from an undisclosed location on Monday.
Pleading anonymity, he said members of the Shura had been holding meetings for the past few days to build a consensus on an extension in the ceasefire but they could not reach a conclusion.
He said the Shura members were divided on the issue and a similar division could be found in the regional factions of the TTP in the tribal areas as well as in the settled districts.
“There is a reason why we are opposing an extension in the ceasefire. The day the government began the peace talks with us, we lost 66 people in fake encounters. Similarly, a day before the first direct meeting of the government and Taliban members in Bilandkhel village, the government shifted 80 of our prisoners from the Karachi Central Jail to Khairpur, Sukkur and Hyderabad prisons. The aim was to annoy the Taliban and sabotage the peace talks,” the Taliban leader claimed.
He felt that by shifting their prisoners to prisons in the interior of Sindh, the government wanted to make it difficult for their relatives and family members to meet them and learn about their condition in jails. He claimed it would also affect the trial of the prisoners in jails.
“We know that the PPP and MQM had been opposing the peace talks but we would like to know if the federal government is supporting the policy of the Sindh government of torturing the Taliban prisoners and shifting them to jails in the interior of Sindh. The federal government will have to explain or it will be difficult for the Taliban to unanimously build a consensus on an extension in the ceasefire,” the TTP leader explained.
Another senior member of the TTP said discussions were in progress about an extension in the ceasefire but no conclusion had yet been reached.He said majority of the Shura members were satisfied with the sincerity of the Nawaz Sharif government in holding the talks. However, he added that the government had no control over certain quarters who were opposed to the peace process. He said they were in touch with the government negotiation committee and would soon announce their future strategy.
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