The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Monday abrogated a June ceasefire with the government and ordered its militants to launch attacks across the country, according to a statement from the group.
Addressing his militants, the statement, available below, said, “Since the military operations against the Mujahideen are going on in different areas, it is important for you to be able to attack anywhere in the country.
It said the decision was taken following a series of unrelenting attacks by militant outfits in Bannu’s Lakki Marwat district.
The outlawed group said it has repeatedly warned the Pakistani people and “continues to be patient so that the dialogue process is not sabotaged at least by us.”
The statement claimed that “but the army and intelligence agencies did not stop and continued the attacks […]
The government and intelligence agencies are yet to comment on the matter.
Talks between Pakistani authorities and the militant group first began in October last year but ended in December.
It resumed later in May this year. However, the process once again broke down due to a deadlock over the cancellation of the merger of the tribal areas into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Subsequently, TTP attacks have been on the rise since September after the group’s cease-fire with the army ended. Most of the attacks took place in Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, South Waziristan, and North Waziristan districts of PK.
In October, the interior ministry warned that more than a year of peace talks between the TTP and the government of Pakistan had “fallen into disrepair”, causing unrest among TTP ranks.
He noted that the TTP had accused the Pakistani government of failing to meet its key demand – the merger of the former FATA with the KPK – as well as detaining TTP members. continued to hold while a ceasefire was still being negotiated.
The ministry had also highlighted the risk of TTP sub-groups joining the militant Islamic State (ISKP) or joining hands with the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group to resume terrorist activities.
Meanwhile, in a press conference earlier this month, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called on the government to rethink its strategy to deal with the militant outfit.
He said that it is time to review the decisions we have taken or made to us regarding internal security and terrorism.
Bilawal also maintained that there is nothing wrong with admitting that “we were wrong about some things and right about some things and reassessing our approach”.
