Pakistan Taliban declares end to ceasefire,to resume attacks

The banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) will not extend the month-long ceasefire deal negotiated with the Pakistan government. A statement issued by the TTP accused the Pakistan government of failing to honour the decisions, including the release of their fighters. It gave out details of the six-point agreement reached with the government under the aegis of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” (IEA) on October 25, 2021, the Dawn newspaper reported. The two sides, according to the agreement, had accepted that the IEA would play the role of a mediator and that both sides would form five-member committees each which, under the supervision of the mediator, would discuss the next course of action and demands of each side.

Both sides, it said, had also agreed to observe a month-long ceasefire from November 1 to November 30, 2021, and that the government would release 102 “imprisoned mujahideen” and hand them over to the TTP through the “IEA and that both sides would issue a joint statement regarding the ceasefire on November 1, 2021”, the report said. According to the statement, the government not only failed to implement the decisions reached between the two sides but on the contrary, the security forces conducted raids in Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat, Swat, Bajaur, Swabi and North Waziristan and killed and detained militants.“Under these circumstances, it is not possible to extend the ceasefire,” the TTP said.

The TTP decision to end the ceasefire is a big setback to the government's efforts to secure a peace agreement with the militants waging war against the state for decades. Afghan Taliban are playing the role of principal mediator between Pakistan and the outlawed militant conglomerate comprising several factions. The TTP, however, has set its own conditions which among other things include enforcement of Shariah and restoration of tribal areas to their pre-merger status. The ceasefire has remained enforced with no major violations. TTP-led militant attacks inside Pakistan which had seen a dramatic spike in the immediate aftermath of the Afghan Taliban’s takeover of Kabul in mid-August have seen a steady decline, the report said. These attacks saw a further decrease of 28 per cent since October, when the ceasefire came into effect, according to official statistics of the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.