Peace talks resume between govt, TTP committees

ISLAMABAD: Negotiators for the government and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) met on Wednesday to restart peace talks that stalled more than a fortnight ago, sources said. The meeting in the northwestern town of Akora Khattak comes after the TTP announced a month-long ceasefire at the weekend, despite a major attack in Islamabad on March 3 claimed by a splinter group that killed 11 people. More than 110 people have been killed in militant attacks since Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced talks with the TTP in late January, leading some observers to question the dialogue strategy. The TTP distanced itself from Monday’s attack, the deadliest in Islamabad since a huge truck bomb hit the city’s Marriott Hotel in 2008. An official close to the government delegation told AFP they had arrived for the meeting in Akora Khattak, 50 kilometres east of Peshawar. “The government committee will ask about the recent attacks, particularly the one in Islamabad, and they will also talk about how to make the ceasefire effective,” the official had said prior to the meeting. A source close to the TTP negotiating team, which is led by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Samiul Haq (JUI-S) chief Maulana Samiul Haq, confirmed the government side had reached the town. Talks began last month but broke down after the Mohmand Agency of the TTP claimed responsibility for the killings of 23 kidnapped Frontier Corps personnel. The military responded with a series of air strikes in the tribal areas that killed more than 100 insurgents, according to security officials.