File photo of Ehsanullah Ehsan. PHOTO: AFP
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) withdrew its dialogue offer to the new government a day after the TTP spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan confirmed on May 30th that Waliur Rehman Mehsud was killed in the US drone strike in North Waziristan tribal region, along with six other militants.
Ehsan had alleged Pakistan’s cooperation with the US in the drone attacks, an allegation he reiterated on Sunday when asked if the TTP is willing to talk to the PML-N government.
When questioned on Sunday if the PML-N government directly or through any mediator contacted the Taliban for talks, Ehsan said that no one has contacted them since the new government has taken over.
Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said in Quetta on Sunday that the government is ready to pursue its commitment to talk to those militants who want to talk. However he warned that the government will respond with force if the armed groups pursue ‘militancy and terrorism.’
The Taliban say they still standby their previous decision not to talk to the government.
“We are still in the state of shock at the martyrdom of our deputy chief and there is no change in decision of not to talk to the government,” the TTP spokesman told The Express Tribune.
The TTP had previously offered conditional peace talks to the PPP-led ruling coalition for the first time in February this year, however, then government wanted the Taliban to lay down arms first.
The Taliban had attached conditions to their talks offer that included release of their senior negotiators and proposed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president Nawaz Sharif, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Jamaat-e-Islami amir Syed Munawar Hasan as guarantor for dialogue. None of the three leaders had agreed to play the mediator role, but had pressed the former PPP government to hold talks with the militants.
Days after the PML-N emerged as the single largest party in the May 11 elections, Nawaz Sharif had stated that he would take the Taliban dialogue offer very seriously. However, there has been no progress so far and the US drone attacks made the possibility complicated.
“We had offered dialogue and wanted to talk to everyone, but the political government has no power and the powerful establishment has never shown seriousness to peace dialogue,” Ehsan said via phone from undisclosed location.
To a question about the logic behind the Taliban decision to withdraw talks offer to the government in reaction to the US attack, he claimed that Taliban believe that “our state institutions are passing on 80 percent information to the Americans for drone attacks.”
To another questioned Ehsan said that the Taliban have appointed a new deputy chief but the name will not be disclosed for some time.
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@np: they are underground these days, I think they consumed all of their energy of talking before election, they wont talk for five years to come.
@Chengez K: Saudis you mean?
Inshallah they will bring Khilafat to the country..
Anyone who believes that the TTP is being supported by the U.S. and NATO is simply siding with conspiracy theories. The truth is that they see our nations as a common threat to their criminal objectives. Please let me remind you what the Taliban spokesman, Ehsanullah Ahsan, said after the attack on the U.S. convoy in Peshawar in 2011: "The diplomatic staff of all NATO countries are our targets. We will continue such attacks. Pakistan is our first target, and America is our second." Furthermore, this is what the TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan, told the media after the Boston Marathon explosions: “We believe in attacking US and its allies but we are not involved in this attack. We have no connection to this bombing but we will continue to target them wherever possible.” I hope you are able to see that we are fighting a common war against our common enemies.
Ali Khan
Only Musarraf knows the shortest way to deal with them .
@ Rex Minor: Genius, ever heard of sarcasm?! US is already using drones in the tribal belt, Yemen and Somalia. They don't seek permission prior to an attack. Pakistan Army is already fighing terrorists, you just need to look beyond your cave to know more :)
Where are the PTI supporters?
@frank: "some of the people posting comments here sound more deranged and more dangerous than the tehrik e taliban."
No doubt these posters have killed 50001 Pakistanis
Can it be said surely and assuredly that Taliban are insincere and dishonest for peace talks and negotiations with Pakistan?????
The talibans are saying "No" to peace talks. They are blaming the Pakistan army for providing information to US to conduct drone strikes. They are still mourning the death of Waliur Rehman.
To me, it sounds like the talibans have declared open war on Pakistan army. Pakistan army should go with full force and finish them off.
@Muhammad:
why ask others to do your dirty deeds! Join the army and fight them, or learn the civility how one interfaces with others!
Rex Minor
'We are still in a state of shock---------' One drone strike has put TTP in a real state of shock which the military could not achieve during the past four years. In any counter-insurgency operation killing of top militant leaders is the fundamental requirement to win the war against them which was done two times by drones only and not by military. Those who condemn drone strike must think twice as it is the only potent weapon to target top commanders since the military has completely failed to eliminate them.
Peace talks is the only solution, We should not kill each other, because it serves the cause of Americans. Everytime any Taliban leader wants to talk peace, Americans hit him. Taliban should understand this. Also those Pakistanis who are loyal to America or they are on the payroll of America don't want favour peace talks with Taliban. Those people who are urging Army operations, live far away and are safe in their homes, if they were in Pakhtunkhwa, they would also demand peacetalks.
How can TTP negotiate or talk with a Government or State whom they do not recognize because un-islamic?
Talks is the shortest way of solution.
@truth: majority of the TTP leader ship resembles with boilers of K&N,they are not created to talk peace they themselves don't know from where they get order to kill or blast,
Why don't you do a Bugti on him while they are in their caves?? People are with you and will support and applaud you Ch. Nisar. Don't wait too long.
some of the people posting comments here sound more deranged and more dangerous than the tehrik e taliban.
Th FAT guy look like Foreign - he does not look like guys from the tribal area.
I think being a nuclear power....we need to use low-yield nukes to nuke TTP. One on Miran Shah and the rest on all the hideouts of these animals and we'll do just fine
It's time to them all along with their sympathizers.
@Muhammad:
I appreciate your concern and anger, instead of blaming this bunch of leaches you should initiate to show anger on their creator, they obviously under the carpet on which today's pakistan reaping the out come strategic assets., there is no meaning calling monster as monster but the creator of these monsters should be thought lesson first.
Unless current pakistani awam treat violence against human being [no exclusion of any format] with Iron feast you people, would be theater artists guided by these monster not even near decades you can able to come out of this reality theater of killing/hate mindset. \
How sad, The drones are indeed jeopardising the TTP's "peace" plans in Pakistan.
Why doesn't the US drone these buffoons? They haven't been able to track down these lowly thugs yet? What peace talks with you, I ask? You deserve to be hanged till death for killing innocent civilians including children and women!
One of them looks like an oversized leech who got obese on too much blood. The other one looks like a yellow teethed neanderthal. Both look hideous. Pls stop showing this pic now!
@ET This smug picture of these magnificiently animalistic barbarians must be taken down NOW! Please stop torturing us with smiling faces of two people we really do wish to see dead for so long now.
If PML(N) does the same way as previous, then it will be targeted the same way... Let us see what happens
The happy faces says a lot about whose government it is. Time for discussions and debate???? Who are you kidding.
There is absolutely no benefit to the terrorists in peace talks or in peace. They have no value in peace.
Trying to have peace talks with them and having an agreement always will be short term and will only last as long as it benefits them.
The only way is to get rid of them permanently.
TTP, BLA & Laskar i Jhangavi are all being controlled by one foreign hand sitting far away.....time to cut that hand!!!!
ET, can you guys find another picture of these guys, their grinning is about to kill me.Just sick.