Pakistani Taliban Declare End to Attacks on Govt
Published: November 23, 2011 (Issue # 1684)
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — The Pakistani Taliban have declared a cease-fire to encourage nascent peace talks with the government, a senior commander said, a move that appears to show the deadly group’s willingness to strike a deal.
It was unclear Tuesday whether all the militants claiming to be under the Taliban banner would obey the directive, which the commander said had been in effect for a month. The Pakistani Taliban are believed to be divided into many factions.
The Pakistani Taliban, allied with al-Qaida and based in the northwest close to the Afghan border, have been behind much of the violence tearing apart Pakistan over the last 4 years. At least 35,000 people have been killed in guerrilla attacks and army offensives.
The Taliban want to oust the U.S.-backed government and install a hardline Islamist regime. They also have international ambitions and trained the Pakistani-American who tried to detonate a car bomb in New York City’s Times Square in 2010.
The United States, which has pounded the Taliban with missiles fired by drones, wants Pakistan to keep the pressure on insurgents and would likely be concerned about any effort to strike a deal. Many of America’s fiercest foes in Afghanistan — as well as al-Qaida operatives from around the world — live alongside the militants in the Pakistani region of North Waziristan.
The commander said the cease-fire was valid throughout the country.
“We are not attacking the Pakistan army and government installations because of the peace process,” he said Monday. The commander is close to Hakimullah Mehsud, leader of the Pakistani Taliban. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t the official spokesman of the insurgent network.
His statement adds credence to announcements by anonymous Taliban and intelligence officials that government intermediaries recently met with Taliban commanders to talk about a possible peace deal. The government has not officially commented, and the army denied Tuesday it was involved in any talks.
Much remains unclear about the nature of the reported talks and their potential. Both the army and the militants have previously engaged in misinformation. Some reports have said any deal would cover only one region in the northwest, South Waziristan, but could be extended.
Pakistan has cut deals with militant factions in the past, several of which quickly broke down after giving the insurgents time to regroup.
Army offensives against the Taliban are unpopular among many Pakistanis, many of whom view the militants as misguided Muslim brothers rather than terrorists. Right-wing and Islamist parties that support their aims have long called for a peace deal.
This view appeared to get traction in September when government leaders, opposition politicians and other national figures met in Islamabad and produced a vague resolution in support of peace moves with militants. Despite this, the government’s official line is that they will talk only with militants who lay down their arms.