Fresh stalemate: Pindi attacks torpedo peace hopes

TTP committee member insists door is still open for dialogue.

ISLAMABAD:

Prospects for the reopening of peace negotiations between the government and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), tainted by the bloody infighting among two major groups in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) last month, have suffered another blow with the killing of two Pakistan Army colonels in Rawalpindi on Wednesday.

“Now there are no chances of peace talks in the near future,” said Rustam Shah Mohmand, a member of the government appointed negotiation committee. “I think there will be no talks as both parties were already not on talking terms for the last few weeks. It was a total deadlock that persisted for a long time.’’ However, Mohmand added that a formal announcement by the government regarding the stalemate should not be expected.

However, the TTP is reportedly still interested in the resumption of peace negotiations with the government, according to Maulana Yousaf, one of the three members of the TTP committee. “The TTP has always been ready to resolve all issues with the government through a peaceful manner but it had suspended negotiations over the last two months,” he told The Express Tribune. 



According to security experts, the killing of two senior officers in a suicide attack on Fateh Jhang Road in Rawalpindi on Wednesday – for which the TTP has claimed responsibility – will impede any talks. “The killings have left no room for the continuation of negotiations with the TTP,” said a renowned security analyst Brig (retd) Shaukat Qadir.

The former army officer, the founder and former president of the semi-independent Islamabad Policy Research Institute think-tank, is of the view that the attack should be eye-opening for those who believed in the talks with the TTP.

However, Maulana Yousaf reiterated that the Rawalpindi attack would not close the doors on the peace talks. He said air strikes by the security forces against the TTP in NWA over the last few days resulted in the attack. More than 70 TTP affiliates and innocent tribesmen were killed during the air strikes, he claimed, adding, “You are talking about two army officers without any mention of those 70 people who were killed by the security forces.”

“The security operation has also annoyed Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who was already in a non-aggression agreement with the government,” explained Rustam Shah Mohmand. “The chances for a peace deal with the Sajna group have been reduced as Hafiz Gul Bahadur would have been helpful to arrange such a deal. The security operation has had a negative impact on the overall situation in NWA as it has resulted in the retaliatory actions by the TTP,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6^th, 2014.