KABUL: The Taliban have mediated a temporary ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan-based Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group following talks between the two sides in Kabul, an official said.
The TTP has carried out some of the bloodiest attacks inside Pakistan since 2007. It is not directly affiliated with the Afghan Taliban but pledges allegiance to them.
The spokesman for the militant group, Mohammad Khurasani, said the talks between the TTP and Islamabad were being facilitated by Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers.
The Taliban in Kabul confirmed the talks and the extension of the cease-fire. Their spokesman, Bilal Karimi, said they are doing their “best for the continuation and success of the negotiations.”
“During the talks, in addition to significant progress on related issues, a temporary ceasefire was also agreed upon,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter.
Khurasani, the TTP spokesman, said the group agreed to extend the cease-fire, which began on May 10, at the request of a delegation of the tribal elders from Pakistan who separately met with the militant group this week.
He provided no further details.
Pakistan carried out a number of operations against the TTP, but, despite reducing the militant group’s footprint, it has not been able to fully stop attacks, which, in recent months, have begun to rise again along its western border.
It was unclear who represented the TTP or Pakistan at the talks. There was also no immediate comment from Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) or the government, although officials earlier acknowledged dispatching a delegation to Kabul for talks with the TTP.
Islamabad says the TTP have been able to find safe haven in Afghanistan over the years — a charge both the Taliban and the previous West-backed governments have denied.
Analyst Imtiaz Gul said Islamabad had demanded firm action from the Taliban in Kabul to prevent TTP militants from using Afghan territory to stage cross-border attacks against Pakistan — even threatening counter-attacks into Afghanistan and “pursuit by Pakistani security forces.”
“These talks are the result of Pakistan’s highest-level tough messages, which were conveyed to the Afghan Taliban” following a surge in TTP’s cross-border attacks on Pakistan Army troops, he said.
Last month, Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan, killing dozens of civilians, according to witnesses. The strikes were a dramatic escalation, followed by Pakistani calls on the Taliban to stop sheltering militants.
The TTP held similar talks with Islamabad last November at the request of the Afghan Taliban. Those talks led to a month-long ceasefire and more talks, held with the government of then-prime minister Imran Khan, but the truce was not extended at the time and eventually violence resumed.
Pakistan is also currently dealing with a surge of attacks by Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) militants in Balochistan which also borders Afghanistan.
— With AP
