“We had a talk with some TTP groups. But their conditions were such that they couldn’t be agreed upon. If the TTP wants to fight, we will fight them,”said the Pakistan Interior Minister…reports Asian Lite News
Pakistan Federal Interior Minister, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed has said that talks with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) broke down due to group’s harsh conditions, Samaa TV reported.
He added that the Afghan Taliban guaranteed their soil won’t be used against Pakistan and mediated talks with the TTP.
“We had a talk with some TTP groups. But their conditions were such that they couldn’t be agreed upon. If the TTP wants to fight, we will fight them,” the Interior Minister said.
“(Afghan) Taliban were talking to the TTP. But their demands were so harsh that talks couldn’t proceed. The TTP broke the ceasefire and that’s why there is a spike in terror attacks.”
“Today, the environment there (in Afghanistan) is not hostile towards Pakistan. There are Taliban,” he added.
Sheikh Rasheed asked the Opposition alliance of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to change its date for a long march towards Islamabad as roads will be closed due to the presence of VVIP dignitaries in the federal capital. The coalition said it would march on March 23.
“OIC leaders are coming to attend the March 23 parade. From March 21, roads will be closed. So, move it (your march) to March 24 or 27,” the Minister said.
The opposition parties too are angry because they were kept dark about Imran Khan’s secret deal with TTP, a report by Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha
Imran Khan has been hit by a pincer strike. On the one side, the ferocious Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has trapped him and on another axis, the Afghan Taliban is targeting him. This is the general perception that is emerging at the grassroots level in Pakistan, where the people are angry and hurt by the announcement of a ceasefire agreement between the Imran Khan government and the TTP, a UN banned outfit.
“Extremist group TTP should be held accountable for the killings of thousands of people before any negotiations for bringing them into the national political mainstream can take place,” said Hina Jilani, Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the Pakistani daily The News reports.
The opposition parties too are angry because they were kept dark about Imran Khan’s secret deal with TTP.
“The problem is that the government hasn’t taken parliament into confidence and has gone about talks with the TTP unilaterally, which is not right. There need not be a binary between kinetic war and talking to militants,” said Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Chief of Pakistan People’s Party. He asserted that the only way to hold talks with the TTP is from a position of strength.
“We need real Red Lines especially with respect to the Constitution,” he pointed out.
Though both sides are silent on the terms and conditions of the secret deal, Pakistani media has reported that the Imran Khan government has laid three conditions before the TTP — accept the constitution, lay down arms and get an identity card. In response, the militant group too has forwarded its own conditions — Shariat system & courts in tribal belt & Malakand, removal of Pakistani military fences from Durand line, the TTP to be allowed to keep weapons in tribal areas and withdrawal of Pak Army from tribal belt.
Pakistani experts believe that the TTP and the government both are engaged in a tactical game. While Imran Khan’s strategy is to divide the group and check on its eagerness to reconcile, the statements emanating from the TTP do not appear to suggest that they are negotiating from a position of weakness.
Amid the talks, Imran Khan got slammed by the Pakistani Supreme Court, which summoned Khan and grilled him for more than two hours over the “secret” deals with the TTP militants, who are the main accused of killing 140 school children in 2014 among other crimes.
“Why are we bringing them (TTP) to the negotiating table instead of taking action against them?” a judge asked Khan.
The court asked the Prime Minister to pay heed to the parents’ demands and take action against the school attackers and submit the report in four weeks.
According to Pakistani analysts, the deal is brokered by the Interior Minister of the Taliban regime and the Chief of terror outfit, Sirajuddin Haqqani — it is like one terror group is mediating talks between another terror group and the government — it is in a very uncomfortable situation.
“Who is the guarantor — Haqqanis? A terror outfit, how can Imran Khan trust these terror outfits,” ask one analyst.
Some Pakistani observers feel that Imran Khan was doing deals with the militant organisations first with the TLP and then with the TTP for his survival as his government is losing the grip over the country. The worsening economic situation is haunting Imran Khan who is already in many controversies, including on the appointment of the ISI Chief.
Even supporters of Imran Khan’s slogan of change, “Naya Pakistan”, have started talking about his mistakes and biases.
(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)
“The people of Pakistan are major stakeholders in this debate — having borne the brunt of the TTP’s militancy — and they must have their say in the final decision,” according to Dawn’s Editorial, reports Asian Lite News
Pakistan is back to signing secret peace agreements with militant groups, this time with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has been involved in killing several thousand civilians, including over 130 school children.
Such abject surrender to terrorists has rarely happened anywhere else but Pakistan. The banned outfit has declared a one-month ceasefire, starting from November 9.
Domestic Pakistani critics, among them political parties, civil society and sections of the media have called it surrender and capitulation.
Meanwhile, in its Tuesday Editorial, the Pakistani daily Dawn, criticised this secret deal made by the goverment with TTP without a proper debate in the Parliament “in full glare of the media.”
“The unfortunate part is that there has been almost negligible public input in this matter. The government has quietly initiated these talks and brought them to a stage where a ceasefire is now in effect. There have been hints all along the way for sure — from the president, the foreign minister and later the prime minister who chose to reveal on an international channel that talks were ongoing with the TTP,” the Editorial said.
Like his predecessors, Imran Khan has also decided to keep the contours of the peace pact with TTP secret. The public, as always, remain ignorant about the concessions given to TTP.
According to reports, Afghan Taliban are playing the mediator role between the terror outfit and the government.
The Editorial said there is “no information in terms of what Pakistan has offered in return for this ceasefire, who is on the government’s team, and what concessions are being considered for those who have the blood of Pakistanis on their hands.”
It said the issue “may have been discussed at the briefing on Monday and various parliamentary leaders would have given their suggestions, but it is a bit late to be taking them into confidence when negotiations are already in an advanced stage.”
“The people of Pakistan are major stakeholders in this debate — having borne the brunt of the TTP’s militancy — and they must have their say in the final decision. The parliamentarians should use the material from this briefing to initiate a debate on the floor of both Houses before any final deal with the TTP is agreed upon. The government must come clean on this issue,” Dawn stated.
Imran Khan had been a supporter of TTP and other militant groups for long which had earned him the sobriquet of ‘Taliban Khan’. Faced with a colossal failure as a Prime Minister and souring relationship with the army, Imran Khan has decided to draw on the support of militant groups like Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and TTP to shore up his position in the hybrid regime that currently rules Pakistan.
(Pic credit: IANS)
But Imran Khan seems to be in no mood to learn from the recent history of failures. He is not worried what kind of message his capitulation to TLP and TTP would send to over 250 religious outfits in Pakistan — that violence was rewarding, that holding the country to ransom through acts of ransom and violence would give them a leverage over democratically-elected governments.
The so-called peace pacts with militant groups, first with TLP and now with TTP, exposes the grim reality of Pakistan’s counter-terrorism policy, a fact which must be noted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) at its next meeting. (with inputs from IANS)
China has promised the Taliban that it will invest in Afghanistan if they eliminate the “bad” terrorists in their country but first they will have to tackle the TTP…writes Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha
Pakistan claims that if talks with the militant outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) fails, it the notorious Haqqani network, now in the drivers seat in Kabul, will hunt it down.
The warning comes amid talks between the hardline TTP and Pakistan which are mediated by Sirajuddin Haqqani, the interior minister of the Taliban government. Sirrajuddin also heads the terror outfit Haqqani network (HQN).
The HQN has been designated a terrorist organization by the United Nations, while the US has declared Sirajuddin Haqqani features in Washington’s most-wanted list. According to sources, Haqqani is under pressure from China to tame the TTP which has been a major threat for its billion dollar projects of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Pakistan. China has also promised the Taliban that it will invest in Afghanistan if they eliminate the “bad” terrorists in their country but first they will have to tackle the TTP.
It was because of this reason, Haqqani is playing a “good cop” and felicitating the talks between the TTP and the Pakistani government. Haqqani promised military action against the TTP and its affiliates, which were not willing to reconcile.
“When we go for the solution of any problem, there are ways to deal with it,” Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Ahmed Khan told The Express Tribune, adding that there were elements within terrorist groups who might be willing to reconcile and others who might be dealt with by military action.
The Imran Khan government has already agreed to release more than 100 TTP militants, top commanders including the dreaded terrorist “butcher of Swat” Muslim Khan, who was sentenced to death by the Pakistani military court. He was convicted of killing more than 100 people including two Chinese workers. According to the TTP, the release of the prisoners is meant to be a first step of confidence-building measures.
According to the Pakistani media, a month-long ceasefire across the country has been agreed upon which may be extended if the negotiations move in the right direction but the TTP has made it clear that the ceasefire will come into effect after the release of TTP fighters.
The TTP was represented by a 14 members delegation headed by its chief Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud while the Pakistani side was represented by the security and ISI officials.
But Pakistanis are not “comfortable” with the way Prime Minister Imran Khan has been surrendering to the radical Islamist forces. On Sunday, the Imran Khan government removed the ban from the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) after releasing their thousand prisoners. Now Imran Khan is surrendering to the most dreaded outfit of Pakistan- The TTP.
“Imran Khan and others must ask themselves, do they really wish to accommodate an extremist, violent, banned terrorist outfit that has been killing children, armed forces, and citizens? Parents of the children massacred at the APS school in Peshawar in December 2014 have already spoken out strongly against any accord with the TTP saying that these were the people responsible for the death of their children. There are also other victims of the TTP who are equally angry,” said Anees Jilani, a Pakistani lawyer and human rights activist adding that Pakistan’s leadership needs to remember from its past and its failed attempts to deal with the TTP through talks in the past as well as the harm that this caused the country.
(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)
The heavy fighting has been ongoing between the Pakistani army and the TTP in several parts of North and Southern parts of the restive province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), for the last two weeks…reports Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has rejected Pakistan governments offer of amnesty saying that its struggle will continue until they establish Sharia. TTP also asked the Pakistani security forces to ask for forgiveness.
“As for forgiveness, forgiveness is sought for mistakes, we’re proud of our struggle, we have never apologized to our enemies. We believe in meaningful dialogue if it ensures implementation of Shariah in Pakistan,” says the one of the most dreaded terror groups of Pakistan, if not the world, in a statement.
It was reported earlier that Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had offered that it would be “open to giving” a pardon to members of the banned TTP if it renounces violence, accepts the writ of the state and commits to the constitution.
“If they ((TTP)are willing to mend fences and not take the law into their hands and not get involved in terrorist activities and they submit and surrender to the writ of the government and the Constitution of Pakistan, we are even open to giving them a pardon,” Qureshi told to the state-run APP wire service.
According to Pakistani media, the heavy fighting has been ongoing between the Pakistani army and the TTP in several parts of North and Southern parts of the restive province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), for the last two weeks. Because of the TTP threat , the New Zealand cricket team backed out of the tour and decided to leave Pakistan.
There are hundreds of suicide bombers who have joined the group as a reinforcement and they have been targeting posts and convoys of the Pakistani forces. According to the Pakistani army, a gun battle has left seven soldiers and five militants dead in Pakistan’s restive north-western tribal areas, bordering Afghanistan in the last 24 hours. But the militant group had said that they have attacked at five places killing 12 security personnel. Recently, the outfit has issued a stern warning to the Pakistani media, asking it to refrain from calling it a terrorist organization.
“We call on Pakistani media journalists and media houses to stop their prejudice in the ongoing war between TTP and Pakistani security forces,” read a letter issued by the group.
We have confirmed that titles such as “terrorists” and “extremists” are used in our names. This shows the intentional prejudice of the media. TTP is warned and instructed to refer only as TTP and not in titles such as those we provide,” the group said in a statement.
Since the capture of Afghanistan by the Taliban or Afghan Taliban, Pakistan has been witnessing a new surge of terror attacks on its security forces. The TTP has been experiencing a reversal of fortunes in the past after “big brother” Afghan Taliban released over 4000 terrorists belonging to the TTP from Afghan jails after taking over the country.
Now all these militants have joined the TTP’s fight against the Pakistani army. And since then, Pakistan’s military establishment is worried, and this is reflected in the statements of the Pakistani army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ministers who are under tremendous pressure from their “iron brother” China after the increasing attacks by the TTP and its allies on CPEC projects and its Chinese workers.
Pakistani rulers have asked the Taliban to rein in the group but they were told that the TTP is not Taliban’s problem and asked Pakistani rulers to sort it out themselves.
Pledging allegiance to the Afghan Taliban, TTP’s leaders have threatened Pakistan and vowed to establish a Khulafat system and Sharia in Pakistan.
TTP chief Noor Wali Mehsud has said that his organisation doesn’t need Afghanistan’s soil to protect itself from Pakistan Army’s attacks. “We are still fighting with the Pakistan Army from our own soil. We are hoping to take control of the tribal region and make it an independent area,” Mehsud said in a recent interview, making it clear that the ultimate goal of the TTP is to establish Greater Afghanistan, which includes tribal areas of Pakistan as well.
(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)
According to Pakistani media, heavy fighting has been ongoing between the Pakistani army and the TTP in several parts of North and Southern parts of the restive province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), for the last two weeks, reports Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has rejected Pakistan governments offer of amnesty saying that its struggle will continue until they establish Sharia. TTP also asked the Pakistani security forces to ask for forgiveness.
“As for forgiveness, forgiveness is sought for mistakes, we’re proud of our struggle, we have never apologized to our enemies. We believe in meaningful dialogue if it ensures implementation of Shariah in Pakistan,” says the one of the most dreaded terror groups of Pakistan, if not the world, in a statement.
It was reported earlier that Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had offered that it would be “open to giving” a pardon to members of the banned TTP if it renounces violence, accepts the writ of the state and commits to the constitution.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi
“If they ((TTP)are willing to mend fences and not take the law into their hands and not get involved in terrorist activities and they submit and surrender to the writ of the government and the Constitution of Pakistan, we are even open to giving them a pardon,” Qureshi told to the state-run APP wire service.
According to Pakistani media, the heavy fighting has been ongoing between the Pakistani army and the TTP in several parts of North and Southern parts of the restive province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), for the last two weeks. Because of the TTP threat , the New Zealand cricket team backed out of the tour and decided to leave Pakistan.
There are hundreds of suicide bombers who have joined the group as a reinforcement and they have been targeting posts and convoys of the Pakistani forces. According to the Pakistani army, a gun battle has left seven soldiers and five militants dead in Pakistan’s restive north-western tribal areas, bordering Afghanistan in the last 24 hours. But the militant group had said that they have attacked at five places killing 12 security personnel. Recently, the outfit has issued a stern warning to the Pakistani media, asking it to refrain from calling it a terrorist organization.
Pakistani Army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa
“We call on Pakistani media journalists and media houses to stop their prejudice in the ongoing war between TTP and Pakistani security forces,” read a letter issued by the group.
We have confirmed that titles such as “terrorists” and “extremists” are used in our names. This shows the intentional prejudice of the media. TTP is warned and instructed to refer only as TTP and not in titles such as those we provide,” the group said in a statement.
Since the capture of Afghanistan by the Taliban or Afghan Taliban, Pakistan has been witnessing a new surge of terror attacks on its security forces. The TTP has been experiencing a reversal of fortunes in the past after “big brother” Afghan Taliban released over 4000 terrorists belonging to the TTP from Afghan jails after taking over the country.
Now all these militants have joined the TTP’s fight against the Pakistani army. And since then, Pakistan’s military establishment is worried, and this is reflected in the statements of the Pakistani army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ministers who are under tremendous pressure from their “iron brother” China after the increasing attacks by the TTP and its allies on CPEC projects and its Chinese workers.
Pakistani rulers have asked the Taliban to rein in the group but they were told that the TTP is not Taliban’s problem and asked Pakistani rulers to sort it out themselves.
Pledging allegiance to the Afghan Taliban, TTP’s leaders have threatened Pakistan and vowed to establish a Khulafat system and Sharia in Pakistan.
TTP chief Noor Wali Mehsud has said that his organisation doesn’t need Afghanistan’s soil to protect itself from Pakistan Army’s attacks. “We are still fighting with the Pakistan Army from our own soil. We are hoping to take control of the tribal region and make it an independent area,” Mehsud said in a recent interview, making it clear that the ultimate goal of the TTP is to establish Greater Afghanistan, which includes tribal areas of Pakistan as well.
(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)
Afghan Foreign Minister reminded the global community that the danger of the ongoing war is not just limited to Afghanistan…reports Sanjeev Sharma
The Taliban attacks in Afghanistan were carried out in direct collusion with more than 10,000 regional terrorists from the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other outfits.
Detailing the Taliban attacks in Afghanistan in recent months and their links to terrorist outfits, Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar said the terrorist organisations included Ansarullah, Jundallah, Al-Qaeda, East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).
In a meeting with the envoys of the neighbouring countries, United Nations, NATO and the European Union, Atmar said the Taliban’s war crimes were indescribable, referring to the massacre of more than 100 people in Spin Boldak, forced marriages, destruction of more than 300 public infrastructure, and suspension of services in the Taliban-controlled areas.
Atmar went on to say that the rise of Taliban’s bloody attacks in recent months had killed more than 3,000 people, displaced more than 300,000, and disrupted order and provision of services in half of the country’s districts. Currently, 18 million people face dire humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
Atmar said press releases do not suffice, and the international community should give the Taliban a serious response in the upcoming Doha meetings.
Atmar also reminded the global community that since international militants are busy fighting along with the Taliban, the danger of the ongoing war is not just limited to Afghanistan.
He said the Afghan government’s security plan would be charted out and implemented soon in coordination and support of all the political and social strata to strengthen the government’s positions at the strategic points and metropolitans.
He also highlighted the joint programme of the Afghan government and human rights organisations to document the Taliban’s crimes and hold them accountable worldwide.
Atmar elaborated on four areas of cooperation with the international community that included repelling Taliban’s attacks on metropolitan areas; preventing a human catastrophe and human rights abuses; accelerating the Afghan Peace Process; and lastly, implementing a six-month security programme.
During the meeting, the representatives of regional countries and the United Nations expressed their support for an immediate cessation of violence and strengthening the peace process.
The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, said the attack on Herat and the UNAMA office showed that actions do not reflect commitments.
She added that this was not just Afghan’s struggle, but a struggle that all should pay serious attention to.
The statement said that Afghanistan has consistently stressed upon implementation of UNSC resolutions and the Doha agreement…reports Asian Lite News
The Ashraf Ghani government denied the presence of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Afghanistan on Sunday after Pakistan expressed apprehensions regarding a possible spillover of TTP amid the US drawdown from its neighbouring country.
“According to the national security policy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, this movement along with other terrorist groups is recognized as the enemy of peace, stability, and prosperity in Afghanistan and the region, and the Afghan government fights against this terrorist outfit like any other terrorist group without discrimination,” the Afghan foreign ministry said in a statement.
The statement said that Afghanistan has consistently stressed upon implementation of UNSC resolutions and the Doha agreement which calls on the Taliban to cut ties with regional and international terrorist groups including the TTP.
“In order to establish lasting peace in Afghanistan and to ensure stability and prosperity in the region, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan calls on all countries, especially Pakistan, to treat all terrorist outfits equally and without discrimination, and not allow these closely linked and organized groups to collude with each other to jeopardize the security and stability of our countries,” the statement added.
This comes as Pakistan Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid last week had said that Islamabad is expecting that the Taliban will not allow terrorist groups like TTP to carry out activities against Pakistan.
While speaking to the media in Islamabad on Saturday, Rashid reiterated Prime Minister Imran Khan’s statement that Pakistan will not give any bases to the United States to use against Afghanistan, The Express Tribune reported.
He further added,”…But we also expect from the Taliban that they will not allow TTP and other elements to carry out any activity which causes harm to the lives and property of Pakistani people.”
Since the start of the US drawdown from Afghanistan in May, the Taliban has overrun numerous districts across Afghanistan. The fall of strategic districts in the north, south and west has created concerns over the possible infiltration of Taliban into the income-generating territory in the country, TOLOnews reported.
In the face of the surging violence in Afghanistan, Pakistan has ramped up Durand Line fencing despite facing backlash from the people on both sides of the line.
The Pakistani interior ministry made the announcement earlier this month saying that the fencing of the 2,600-kilometer border would be completed by June end. (ANI)
