Pakistan Says It Could Negotiate With Pakistani Taliban “If They Fit Into The Constitution”

The Afghan Taliban stress that “there is no evidence to show that there is any action” from Afghanistan towards other countries

Jan. 5 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Pakistan’s Interior Minister, Rana Sanaullah, has stated that there could be negotiations with the armed group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), known as the Pakistani Taliban, “if it falls within the Constitution”, amid the uptick in the attacks after the end of the ceasefire.

“If TTP decides to fall within the scope of the Constitution, we could have talks with them,” he said, barely a day after ruling out any contact with the group, according to the Pakistani television channel Geo TV.

Sanaulá has stressed that the National Security Committee recently decided that there will be a “zero tolerance” policy against terrorist groups and has stressed that “there will be no distinction between good and bad terrorists.”

Thus, he has affirmed that the body has decided that “terrorism will be fought with all the force of the State” and that “Pakistan’s security is not negotiable and that the totality of the power of the State will be maintained in every inch of the territory”.

The Pakistani Taliban announced at the end of November the end of the ceasefire agreed with the Pakistani authorities in the midst of some contacts that were being mediated by the Afghan Taliban after their seizure of power in Afghanistan in August 2021.

Pakistan’s National Anti-Terrorism Authority recently claimed that the TTP group expanded its networks during peace talks with the government, adding that the US withdrawal from Afghanistan allowed it to increase its activities in the neighboring country.

The situation has led Pakistan to demand that the Afghan Taliban, who mediated during the contacts for a possible peace agreement, deal with the upswing in TTP activities. Islamabad has even threatened cross-border operations, something strongly rejected from Kabul.

In fact, the deputy spokesman for the Taliban, Bilal Karimi, reiterated this Thursday that “the entire territory of the country is controlled by the Islamic Emirate and there is no evidence to show that there is any action from our country towards other countries and their activities”. according to the Afghan television network Tolo TV.

The US government demanded on Tuesday that the Taliban “fulfill their commitment that Afghan territory will not be used again as a platform for international terrorist attacks.” “This is one of the many commitments that the Taliban have been unable or unwilling to fulfill,” lamented State Department spokesman Ned Price.

The TTP group, which differs from the Afghan Taliban in organizational matters but follows the same rigorous interpretation of Sunni Islam, brings together more than a dozen Islamist militant groups operating in Pakistan, where they have killed some 70,000 people in two decades of violence.