The Tehreek-i-Taliab Pakistan (TTP) has formally renounced its flimsy cease-fire with the Pakistani state and warned of retaliatory activities throughout the country.
The group said in a media statement that its senior leadership ended the cease-fire agreement signed with the Pakistani state in June this year. The TTP fighters have been directed to start retaliatory activities against state forces throughout the country, it said.
The TTP statement further said that the Pakistani state has carried out raids and military operations against Taliban leaders and fighters in different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in flagrant violation of the cease-fire agreement. In this scenario, the Taliban fighters have been commanded to respond in kind, the statement said.
The group said it had warned the Pakistani authorities multiple times to not sabotage the negotiation process, but to no avail. Instead, the military has responded to these warnings by carrying out large-scale operations targeting Taliban fighters.
The Pakistani authorities have not yet commented on the statement.
It is pertinent to mention that the Pakistani Taliban and the state authorities began negotiations in October last year that resulted in failure. The two sides started fresh efforts in May this year to settle, but these efforts again capsized when the Pakistani military began targeting the Taliban fighters in KPK.
The Taliban have responded in kind — after the failure of talks and in the wake of rising military operations, the Taliban carried out multiple attacks against Pakistani forces in South Waziristan and KPK.