Punjabi Taliban welcome peace talks

Tehreek-e-Taliban Punjab said that they welcome peace talks, Express News reported on Wednesday. Following Nawaz Sharif’s announcement in the National Assembly that he has made a four-member committee for negotiations with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Asmatullah Muawiya said Tehreek-e-Taliban Punjab welcomes the talks. Muawiya said the only way to ensure the survival of and to protect the country is through dialogue, adding that the Punjab Taliban have always supported peace talks. He stated that the Taliban’s markazi shura (central decision-making council) had made the decision. Background On August 24, 2013, the TTP had removed Muawiya from his position as the Punjabi Taliban chief to ‘punish’ him for accepting the government’s offer to hold peace talks. Muawiya had said that the Punjabi Taliban had its own shura and the TTP had no authority to remove him.