Pakistan: Pakistani Taliban end ceasefire

Islamist militants fighting Pakistani security forces have announced the end of a temporary ceasefire they have agreed on, raising concerns about a resurgence of violence.

In a statement issued late Thursday, the Taliban Movement in Pakistan (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan) blamed the government for violating the terms of the agreement on the release of prisoners and the formation of a negotiating team.

“It is impossible for us to continue to implement the ceasefire,” said IT spokesman Mohamed Khorasani, closing the announcement.

The ceasefire agreement was brokered by Shirazuddin Haqqani, Afghanistan’s current caretaker interior minister and leader of the dreaded Afghan Taliban faction known as the Haqqani Network. It came into force on November 9th.

The Haqqani network is believed to be closely linked to the Pakistani intelligence service, the powerful ISI, and to wield influence over the Pakistani Taliban. The TTP is said to be operating with bases in Afghanistan after being ousted from its bases in 2014.

The two sides assured on Wednesday that they were in talks to extend the ceasefire, but last-minute talks collapsed, according to sources close to the Pakistani intelligence service.

The Pakistani Sunni Taliban have embraced a strict interpretation of Islamic law, as has the Afghan movement, which seized power in Afghanistan on August 15, but has a different operational structure.

Some 80,000 people, members of the Pakistani security forces and civilians have been killed in the two decades of Pakistani Taliban operations. Islamist extremists have been blamed for a series of kamikaze bombings, gun attacks and bombings.

Experts are concerned that TTP violence will escalate again after the end of the ceasefire.

SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ

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Source From: Capital

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