TTP extends truce to hold peace talks

PESHAWAR: The Pakistani Taliban has extended a ceasefire with Islamabad in order to hold peace talks, two militant sources told AFP on Wednesday.

Since the Afghan Taliban surged back to power last year its sister organisation in Pakistan — Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — has stepped up attacks on state forces.

Islamabad accuses the new Afghan authorities of harbouring and emboldening TTP fighters along with militants from other groups who slip over the porous border to stage assaults. However, two militant sources told AFP that a TTP ceasefire agreed for the Islamic Eid festival has now been extended until May 16.