Pakistan has begun shifting troops from parts of the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border in an effort to make peace with Baituallah Mehsud, officials said on Wednesday. The new government has been trying to make peace with Baituallah Mehsud through ethnic Pashtun tribal elders.
The latest talks stalled late last month after the government rejected a Taliban demand for troops to get out of the region. But a senior government official said on Wednesday troops were being "thinned out" in at least two parts of South Waziristan to pave the way for an agreement.
"The troops have started thinning out from the Kotkay and Spinkai Raghzai areas," said the official based in the north-west, which declined to be identified. "We hope to formalise the agreement in two or three days," he said.
The military said troop positions were being adjusted and the government would decide on whether to pull troops out of South Waziristan, depending on the outcome of the negotiations. "The army has decided to readjust present positions and open various roads for the return of the civil population," a military spokesman said. An intelligence official said 31 Taliban were freed from various detention centres in on Tuesday as part of the pact and another security official said a "verbal agreement" had already reached between the two sides.
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