Pakistani Taliban Offers to Provide Security for Tribal Region Peace March

TTP Leader Hakimullah Reverses Previous Calls for Imran Khan's Assassination

A new announcement from the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is reporting that not only has the organization scrapped a call to assassinate cricket star turned political hopeful Imran Khan, but has also offered to provide security for Khan’s planned peace march in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Khan’s rally is expected to include condemnations of US drone strikes against the region, and is planned to include US human rights activists and media from around the world, a rare occasion for them to get into FATA, let along South Waziristan.

This isn’t setting well with the current Pakistani government, according to some reports, as they are keen to keep foreign media out of the FATA and have also tried to keep public protests against the drone strikes limited in recent weeks.

The TTP has been critical of Khan’s political positions, terming him an “infidel” for his self-described liberal policies. They did, however, say they support any opposition to the drone campaign, and Hakimullah Mehsud is said to have personally reversed the calls for Khan’s assassination.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.