PTI Chairman Imran Khan. PHOTO: FILE
Roadside bomb attacks and a Taliban ambush on Sunday killed seven soldiers or policemen including two senior army officers in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Talking to the media on Monday, he said that everyone wants peace but TTP showed extremism by carrying out the attack.
Condemning the attack, he said that he was saddened about the soldiers who lost their lives.
"For nine years we tried a strategy but that has only increased extremism. All parties agreed in the All Parties Conference (APC) that dialogue is the way forward," he said.
Asserting that all possibilities needed to be considered, he questioned, "what other choices do we have?"
"The situation that we are in right now," he added, "has no easy solution."
The All Parties Conference (APC) held on September 9 saw all major political parties deciding that dialogue was the way forward to counter the increasing terrorism in the country. Since then, the TTP have demanded that their prisoners be released and army be withdrawn from tribal areas before talks can be initiated.
Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani has said that Taliban should not be allowed to set the terms of the talk and has asserted that military has the will and the ability to take the fight to the militants.
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IK again proved to be spokesman of TTP.
@Go Zardari Go!!: Well eveninurdu the words are different. Terrorist is dehshatgard Extremist is intehapasand Hopefully you knew that?
Mr. Taliban Khan please don't blame MQM this time.......
@Arifq:
When Musharraf tried to contain the lal masjid terrorists, you all are blaming Musharraf for killing the terrorists and should have given time to talk to them. Now Imran khan wants to talk with the terrorists and the people want to take military action against them. We people do not have a mind of our own. We just board the band. Taliban has more than 30 groups and they all have their own mindset. For some groups it will be better to talk to and for some group we should fight with. Govt has resources and should sort out this issue.
Imran Khan's stance is sharamnak
@Zakir: He wasn't taking in english, this is a translation by ET. Please tell me you know that.
@Morons: oh like the present government has done a great job. Thousands are leaving the country as refugees everyday and hundreds are being killed.
The language that IK uses for the TTP situation is defeatist. A gov't should NEVER use the kind of language as "what choice do we have" and "the situation we have now has no easy solution". This only strengthens the terrorists in their designs and makes them believe what they have done has brought the gov't to its knees and they have no other choice but to give in to the taliban. IK has been naieve and will always be. Learn to talk tough like you are in the gov't now IK, not a one man opposition leader you were in the past.
Voters have already rejected Imran khan He is actualy finished Some loudmouths are keeping him in news
Looks like its a setback for you IK! You always talk in favour of them and TTP has never upheld your trust in them. How many killings do you want by them to convince you?
@Fateh Mohammed: What about you? Find another thing to complain about?
At least he named Taliban/TTP this time.A baby step-but step nontheless.
The problem is not if we should talk or fight. We may have consensus on talks. But please be clear on who are the TTP. They are the enemy of the state. They have butchered innocent Pakistanis in the thousands, blown up schools, killed women and children, and kidnapped everyone from Karachi to Islamabad. Accept the fact that we are negotiating with the worst criminals in the history of this country. And stop calling it negotiations, just say what this is, abject surrender. Start by saying the truth.
yeah we know captain confused will take a U turn sooner or later ... only that it has costed thousands of innocent lives .. want to take more time ?? go ahead more will be killed by savages .. may be than
@Oh Immy: "Yeah like TTP never showed extremism before this." . In a population of almost 200 millions, a few thousand deaths is nothing to fuss about. Don't you remember the song Killing Me Softly.....
Very misguided reporting and people here jump to conclusions without doing any investigations. (Wonder if this comment will be published)
Khan Sahib should be tried for promoting terrorism in Pakistan by defending terrorists and not being able to condemn their acts of terror.
Imran is a big disappointment. Thank God PTI lost the 2013 elections else he would have left the whole country at the mercy of TTP. Shame on him!!
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan said on Monday that the recent attack of Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) on the Pakistan Army could prove to be a setback for the peace talks process.
Reportedly the TTP and its various arms are responsible for the death of about 5,000 security personnel and 35,000 civilians.
IF,
After all this Mr Khan was in favour of talks.
THEN,
Why should he change his mind after the 'recent attack'.?
Is it because the elections are over?
Imran please go back and play cricket or do charity work , politics and provision of well thought out political leadership is not your cup of tea and please don't misguide the misguided further . Thanks
Top leadership of PML (N) and PPP attended the funeral of martyred General alongwith his companions. But none from PTI top leadership attended the funeral. Imran Khan MUST stop policy of appeasement for Talibans and act sanely. Otherwise he is loosing (already faded) repute of his leadership.
“what other choices do we have?” Well bomb them where it hurts while sparing the civilians, at least once, for a change... at least in retaliation if not in offensive.... As long as we continue with targeting ordinary tribesmen for the wrongdoing of terrorists and are happy with Swat-like operations, they will never know what PEACE actually means...
The menace of terrorism needs a long and enduring military operation. But we do not realize it yet. The cost of this realization is innocent blood. Both the nation and the new leaders are indirectly asking for more blood to shed so that they can be sure what the truth is.
Imran, this isn't the first or last attack. As naive leaders like you push for talks with terrorists, that too from the position of weakness, we are going to see more of the same.
Imran khan is only fooloing himself. His sympathies for Taliban are well known. If Taliban rules come he should be ready to wear a Beard and the females of his family wearing head to toe cover and also Pakiastan becoming the most backword nation on earth.If this is acceptable to him keep supporting Talibans.
The fight with taliban is a political fight and not religious. Civilians are killed on both sides equally . We should condemn any killings that happen on any ones side.
wrong again Mr. Khan.....Pakistan was never sincere in trying the military way of defeating the TTP, the Army always hedged its bets and kept the militants as “strategic assets” and thus never went to eliminate them. And we want to have peace with them at their terms after they have kiiled over 50,000 Pakistanis?
IK lacks vision when it comes to TTP... very strange!
Now this is sensible statement!
Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif have proved themselves to be extremely naive. You fool me once shame on you, you fool me twice shame on me.
When Zahra Shahid was shot his tone was not like this, he is full of double standards.
He has become now a master in twisting facts.Shameful.
Yeah like TTP never showed extremism before this
Notice how Imran Khan used the word "extremism" and not "terrorism" . How many murders by his ttp brethren does he want to see happen before he agrees to call a spade a spade - call Ttp terrorists? Shameful of him .
Khan sb big U turn as expected
Just when things are stabilising in the country after the IMF largesse, this happens.
We need to look at the 'Who Benefits' theory again !