PESHAWAR:
After a series of meetings, the Taliban Shura did not agree to an
extension in the one-month-long ceasefire that ended on March 31.
However, some of them say they would like to continue the peace talks
with the government even if there was no formal ceasefire in place.
On
the other hand, a feared militant commander, the head of the
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Mohmand Agency, Omar Khalid
Khurasani, said his faction would not extend the ceasefire and also
threatened to launch attacks against the government. Taliban sources
said representatives of various factions of the TTP had been holding
meetings for the past few days but could not build a consensus on an
extension in the ceasefire.
The Taliban had announced a
one-month-long ceasefire in fighting against the government on March
1.According to sources, the Taliban factions were divided over an
extension in the ceasefire as some of them pointed out that they weren’t
happy with the steps the government had taken to-date.
The
TTP spokesman, Shahidullah Shahid, said the process of consultation
over an extension in the ceasefire was still going on but till now they
could not build a consensus. He said the majority of members of the TTP
had reservations over the failure of the government to fulfil its
commitment made during the recent rounds of peace talks.
Shahidullah
Shahid said they had given a list of 800 civilian prisoners to the
government as a test case as they wanted to see how serious and sincere
the government was towards the peace process. But, he said, not a single
prisoner had been freed so far.
“We were expecting the
government would free our civilian prisoners from jails. Instead, it
violated the ceasefire and arrested 107 of our people during raids in
different villages near Doaba in Hangu district. Besides, three of our
men were killed and their bodies dumped in Swat, Karak and Kohat. The
bullet-riddled bodies of two of our men were recovered from to Swat
while the body of one found in Kohat was from Orakzai Agency,” the TTP
spokesman claimed.
Shahidullah Shahid argued that even if
the ceasefire was not extended and if the government was serious, they
could continue the peace process.Another senior member of the TTP noted
that the government had benefited from the ceasefire and sent its
security forces to new positions in the tribal areas, which, according
to him, would have been difficult for it during normal days.
Pleading
anonymity, he said the militant factions from Swat, Dir, Bajaur,
Mohmand, Peshawar, etc, weren’t in favour of an extension in the
ceasefire.Also, he disputed a statement of the government negotiations
committee member Rustam Shah Mohmand that the Taliban had wished but not
demanded the release of their prisoners during the peace talks.
“Rustam
Shah sahib is a strange person. Wish is something different than
demand. We have many wishes in our heart but it would require effort and
hard struggle to fulfil any wish. We also wish to capture Islamabad and
implement the Sharia there but would Rustam Shah sahib be able to help
us,” the Taliban commander said.
Meanwhile, Omar Khalid Khurasani said they wouldn’t extend the ceasefire and would soon begin attacks in the country.
He
said the government failed to accept their demands during the peace
talks. “There would be more attacks in which common people would suffer
as the government isn’t sincere in the peace talks,” he said.Meanwhile,
TTP political Shura member Azam Tariq said the TTP spokesman’s statement
about ceasefire was not valid as it was not approved by the Shura and
media committee.
