Pakistani Taliban Resumes Ceasefire After Prisoner Release

10 Day Extension May Continue If More Releases Come

On Wednesday, the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP)’s month-long ceasefire came to an end without an extension, and with the militants complaining that their calls for prisoner releases remained unresolved, the prospects for it continuing didn’t look so good.

After a handful of releases on Thursday of “non-combatant” Taliban, the TTP announced today that it is tentatively extending the ceasefire for another 10 days, and is waiting for word on the resumption of peace talks.

The TTP has complained a large number of innocent family members of TTP fighters have been detained by the military, and are pushing for the releases as a goodwill gesture during the talks. They suggested today that further releases were needed to continue the ceasefire beyond those 10 days.

Though details have been scant, the TTP held peace talks with the government on Wednesday night, and this likely led to the past couple days of progress toward their full-scale resumption.

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.