Pro-Taliban militants vow to continue fight against Islamabad govt.
Pro-Taliban militants stand guard in an area of northwestern Pakistan (file photo)
Pro-Taliban militants say they will continue their war against the Islamabad government until it releases militant prisoners and withdraws troops from the group’s tribal sanctuary.
The remarks come after senior pro-Taliban leaders gathered to draft a formal response to a recent offer of peace talks by the Islamabad government. The meeting of the militant leaders was held in an unspecified location in the northwestern tribal region of Pakistan.
œWar is continuing, it was started by the government and they will have to stop it,” Shahidullah Shahid, the main spokesman for the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), told media outlets from an undisclosed location on Tuesday.
The reaction by the militant group also comes a day after Pakistan’s army chief, General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, said militants cannot œcoerce” Islamabad into accepting their terms in the government-initiated peace process.
Kayani said that terrorists would not be allowed to take advantage of the military™s support for the political process, which has been initiated by Premier Nawaz Sharif.
The developments come after- Pakistani political leaders gathered for cross-party talks on how to tackle growing insecurity during new President Mamnoon Hussain’s swearing-in ceremony last Monday.
Premier Sharif has been an advocate of peace talks with the pro-Taliban militants since his election campaign, which ended in his May victory.
A pro-Taliban spokesman reportedly said in May that the militants might agree on a truce if Sharif and his party showed seriousness in holding the peace talks.
However, pro-Taliban militants retracted the May posturing after a US terror drone killed their deputy chief, Wali-ur-Rahman Mehsud. The government offer to engage the militants in the peace talks is nevertheless in place.
The militants in Pakistan have carried out numerous attacks against security forces as well as civilians, and managed to spread their influence in various regions of the country, despite frequent offensives by the Pakistani Army.
JR/PR
Copyright: Press TV