KABUL (Reuters) – The Taliban in Afghanistan have mediated a brief ceasefire between Pakistan and a local Pakistani Taliban militant group following talks between the 2 sides in Kabul, an official stated on Wednesday.
The Pakistani Taliban – generally known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) – has carried out a few of the bloodiest assaults inside Pakistan since 2007. It is just not straight affiliated with the Afghan Taliban, however pledges allegiance to them.
“During the talks, along with important progress on associated points, a brief ceasefire was additionally agreed upon,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid stated on Twitter, confirming the talks in Kabul.
Pakistan carried out numerous operations in opposition to the TTP, however, regardless of decreasing the militant group’s footprint, it has not been capable of totally cease assaults, which, in current months, have begun to rise once more alongside its western border.
A TTP assertion on Wednesday additionally confirmed that talks had been underway in Kabul and {that a} ceasefire has been put in place will May 30.
It was not clear who was representing Pakistan’s authorities within the talks. Pakistan’s overseas workplace spokesman didn’t reply to Reuters’ request for remark.
Islamabad says the TTP have been capable of finding protected haven in Afghanistan through the years – a cost each the Taliban and the earlier U.S.-backed governments have denied.
Last yr, the 2 sides had agreed to a ceasefire however talks failed. The talks, additionally held inside Afghanistan, broke down attributable to a disagreement over the discharge of TTP prisoners held by Pakistan, in response to local media.
Pakistan can be presently coping with a surge of assaults by separatist insurgents in its southwestern province of Balochistan, which additionally borders Afghanistan.
(Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar in Kabul and Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan; Writing by Gibran Peshimam; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
