The Pakistani Taliban on Saturday announced a one-month ceasefire aimed at reviving peace talks after receiving what it said were government assurances it would not be attacked. Speculation has mounted that the Pakistani military is planning an offensive against the insurgents after talks between the militants and government broke down. "The senior leadership of the Taliban advises all subgroups to respect the Taliban's call for a ceasefire and abide by it and completely refrain from all jihadi activities in this time period," spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said in a statement.
Peace talks between the Pakistani government and Taliban insurgents began on February 6 but broke down after insurgents said they executed 23 men from a government paramilitary force in revenge for the killing of their fighters by army forces. Senior Taliban officials told Reuters that they announced the ceasefire after receiving assurances from the civilian government that they would not be attacked. "Senior officials of the federal government promised us the government and its law-enforcement agencies would not take any action against our people in the country," a senior Taliban commander said. "You can say the government first announced ceasefire and we did it later."
He declined to say who in the government made the guarantee. Officials did not return calls seeking confirmation.
"Because of a positive response from the government, an appeal from the religious scholars and for the better future of Pakistan we have decided not to carry out any activity (attacks) for one month," the TTP spokesman said.
He said, TTP had started dialogue process with the government with sincerity. The TTP took the decision with the consultation of the Shura and consent of the TTP Chief, he added. He said the government had given a positive response to TTP proposals for ending the deadlock in the talks, and "we have been ensured implementation on it".
He expressed the hope that the government would seriously ponder over TTP decision and will make progress in a positive manner in the matter by continuing the negotiation process. Earlier yesterday Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan telephoned Taliban committee head Samiul Haq, who is in Madina to perform Umra. Samiul Haq broke the news that Taliban have accepted the demands of the government peace negotiating team and they are going to announce a ceasefire within few moments.
Samiul Haq congratulated the Interior Minister on this development. Chaudhry Nisar termed the TTP decision a good omen and told him that the government would respond to them with a positive gesture. He hoped that the government would also take steps towards building trust for strong defence of the country. Both the leaders decided that Taliban and government committees would meet in the next two days. Government's committee member Irfan Siddiqui in an interview welcomed the announcement and hoped that the two committees would resume dialogue in a couple of days. He said they have not received the copy of the announcement yet, however he termed the decision a positive development and a step in the right direction.
He said the dialogue would resume from where it broke down. He was confident that if acts of violence came to an end, the dialogue would move ahead in a constructive way. Coordinator of the Taliban Committee, Maulana Yusuf Shah said they had fulfilled the commitment made to the nation. He said the government should also give a positive response to the Taliban decision.
Sources said that two members of the government and Taliban Committees Major Amir (Retd) and Maulana Yusuf Shah played an important role in the announcement of unconditional ceasefire by Taliban. Both the leaders were in touch with Taliban leadership since the talks broke down. Taliban had conveyed their decision to the two members on Friday-Saturday night. Irfan Siddiqi telephoned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan after the announcement by TTP and exchanged views over the development.