Pakistan will not hold talks with TTP: Foreign Office

Pakistan said on Thursday that it will not hold talks with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

During her weekly presser, Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch was asked about comments made by Afghanistan’s Taliban government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid regarding mediation between Pakistan and TTP.

“If Pakistan wants us to mediate, and we know that it is beneficial, we will undoubtedly mediate as it benefits the region and we don’t want war in the region,” Afghan news channel Tolo News quoted Mujahid as saying.

In her response, Baloch referred to a previous statement made by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, and emphasised the clarity of the Bilawal’s position on this matter.

“Pakistan will not negotiate with individuals who are responsible for the killing of Pakistani civilians and law enforcement officials,” the FO spokesperson said.

In January, Bilawal in an interview with The Washington Post had said that Pakistan’s leadership will not hold talks with terrorist organisations that do not respect the country’s laws and the Constitution.

The FM was also asked whether Pakistan had hoped that the new Afghan government would act against the TTP, to which he responded, “Our hope, and in fact, their agreement was that their soil would not be used for terrorism. We do hope to cooperate with them to deal with terrorists that are a concern to us.

We are both victims of terrorism. I don’t believe that the Afghanistan government will be successful on their own against terrorism, and neither will we be successful on our own against terrorism. We have to work together.“

After the TTP called off its ceasefire on November 28 last year, Pakistan has seen an increase in terrorist activities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Punjab.