Pakistan Demands Ceasefire Before Taliban Talks Resume

Pakistani Taliban 'Serious' About Talks

Mediators from the Pakistani government’s team say that the only way the peace talks with the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) will resume is if the TTP agrees to a ceasefire.

The TTP had been planning to announce a ceasefire on Monday, but was trying to get an agreement for reciprocity from the Pakistani military. After the TTP-Mohmand killed 23 captive Frontier Corps soldiers over the weekend, the whole process collapsed.

TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid says his group remains “serious” about the talks and continues to negotiate the terms of a ceasefire, though there is no announcement of when that will happen.

The leader of the TTP negotiator team, Maulana Sami Haq, was much less upbeat, saying that he’s waiting for the government negotiators to confirm that they even want talks anymore.

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.