ISLAMABAD: Government and Tehreek -e-Taliban(TTP) negotiators Friday expressed concern over a wave of deadly attacks in the country, agreeing that both militants and security forces should refrain from actions which undermine ongoing peace efforts.
The TTP claimed credit for a bomb blast that killed 12 policemen on a bus Karachi on Thursday, the latest in a series of near-daily attacks since the government called for peace talks with militants to end their seven-year insurgency.
"Both the committees expressed deep grief and regret over anti-peace activities and declared that such incidents would have a negative impact on the peace efforts," a joint statement said after government and TTP committees met on Friday.
"Referring to the recent incident in Karachi, the government committee adopted the stance that it would become difficult to continue the peace talks when anti-peace activities continue," it said.
"Therefore the TTP must be asked to make an announcement that they are stopping all kinds of anti-peace activities and implementation of this announcement should be ensured," the statement quoted the government side as saying.
It said that the Taliban committee "agreed" to the demand and asked the government to also make an announcement that it will not take any action which would create unrest.
"For lasting peace no side should use force," the statement quoted the TTP side as saying.
The chief of the TTP committee, Maulana Samiul Haq, has called for a session of religious leaders on Saturday to "take the clerics into confidence" regarding the peace negotiations.
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