Pakistan govt, banned terrorist group TTP reach one-month 'complete ceasefire' agreement

Pakistan and the banned terrorist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Monday reached a one-month "complete ceasefire", which can potentially be extended given that the two sides hold further talks and strike a mutual agreement, Islamabad government’s spokesman Fawad Chaudhry said in a statement accessed by PTI. Meanwhile, TTP spokesperson Muhammad Khurasani separately confirmed in a statement that Pakistan’s government and the armed terror group TTP will honour the agreed ceasefire period, which was brokered with Prime Minister Imran Khan by the mediation of the Taliban government in Afghanistan. 

Pakistan Taliban spokesperson Mohammad Khurasani confirmed on Monday that the ceasefire will be effective 9 November and will end on 9 December. It is expected that the truce will be extended as both parties are committed to holding further talks on the matter. The armed terrorist group formed in 2007, which is currently 4,000-5,000 strong has been responsible for several deadly terror attacks in Islamabad for the last 14 years, killing hundreds of civilians. 

“The government of Pakistan and banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (Pakistan Taliban) have agreed on a complete ceasefire,”  Chaudhry’s statement read on Monday. Meanwhile Pakistan’s state broadcaster PTV cited the minister as saying that Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan and TTP armed terror group held a dialogue to ensure “state sovereignty, national security, peace, social and economic stability in the areas concerned”. 

'Peace deal' with TTP Islamic Jihadi Movement and Imran Khan govt a longstanding controversy 

TTP or the Pakistani Taliban is a banned terrorist outfit dominant along the Afghan-Pakistan borders and has been behind several terror attacks for more than a decade inside Pakistan as well as Kabul soil. Pakistan appears to have reached a “peace deal” with the TTP Islamic Jihadi Movement with the help of Afghanistan’s Taliban. TTP has agreed on establishing the negotiation teams that will further the peace process, PTI reported, adding that the move was accomplished as per requests made by both parties. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had landed in a pool of controversy last month after he had revealed in a state TV interview that his government was in talks with the TTP for “reconciliation,” according to PTI. Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid, meanwhile, justified the negotiations as necessary, as he also labelled the truce as "a good move".