PESHAWAR: The outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has extended the ceasefire until April 10, the group’s spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said in a statement, adding that the Taliban shura would be meeting after the 10th to decide a future course of action.
The extension comes a day after the interior ministry announced that it had released 19 non-combatant Taliban as a goodwill gesture for bolstering the peace process with the TTP.
In a statement issued to the media, Shahid said the group was awaiting the government’s reply on its demands.
Shahid said the Taliban shura has extended the deadline and would sit after April 10 to decide about the future of talks.
He said the Taliban were still awaiting a reply from the government regarding the group’s demands, including the release of non-combatants, but despite the passage of three days above the ceasefire deadline, the government had not yet responded to the TTP.
Shahid said the TTP had ordered its fighters not to carry out any attacks against the government and law-enforcement agencies until further orders.
The page-long statement issued in the Urdu language also said that the TTP wanted to clarify its position before the nation that it was serious about the talks but the response from the government had not encouraging.
It added that despite the fact the government’s peace committee had met the Taliban leadership empty-handed, the Taliban had shown willingness to talk peace.