High hopes are being placed on the latest round of talks between the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and a Pakistani delegation, this time comprising leading religious figures including Mufti Taqi Usmani. While reports suggest the delegation was warmly received by the Afghan Taliban in Kabul, less is known of how the talks with TTP are progressing. The main agenda items remain an extension of ceasefire and convincing TTP to soften their stance on several issues relating to disarmament or other solutions that would lead to a permanent peace deal.
One of the main hold-ups in the talks remains over the status of the former Fata regions — the TTP want the Fata merger reversed as it undercuts their regional influence, which Islamabad has quite rightly made clear that this condition is a non-starter especially since the government has already begun working on the group’s amnesty demand. Unfortunately, the TTP leadership has made similarly strong statements regarding the Fata merger. Even a previous delegation of 57 elders of various Pakhtun tribes who met TTP leaders last month could not convince them to take a step back. While the ulemas are also appealing to the Afghan Taliban to assist in talks, recent reports suggest that the rulers of Afghanistan have not really gone beyond offering their good offices.
Recent reports of TTP members being recruited by Daesh also make us question the commitment of the Afghan Taliban, which in its quest for international recognition has claimed to back away from supporting terrorist groups and has long called Daesh a threat. Continuing to give shelter to a potent Daesh recruitment pool, even after Pakistan’s airstrikes on TTP positions in Afghanistan earlier this year, does not suggest to anyone that the Taliban are interested in combatting terrorists.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 27th, 2022.
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