Islamabad holds peace talks with Pakistani Taliban

The government in Islamabad has resumed peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban. That is what Imran Khan, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, stated on Friday in an interview with the Turkish channel TRT.

“I think within the TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, the Pakistani Taliban) there are groups that are open to peace talks, to reconciliation with our government. We are talking to those groups,” the prime minister said.

Pakistan’s Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry then confirmed at a press conference that negotiations had indeed taken place. No more information was given. A source within the Pakistani Taliban also says that talks have been going on for a month, but no “conclusion” has yet been reached.

The Taliban in Pakistan differs from the radical Islamist movement of the same name in Afghanistan, although there is a close relationship.

The Pakistani Taliban had launched a campaign of violence in 2007. Thousands of civilians and members of Pakistan’s security forces have since been killed in targeted attacks and bombings claimed by the rebel movement.

Twenty years ago, Pakistan was one of the few countries to recognize the first Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Islamabad has not yet recognized the new Afghan regime.