ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday condemned the killing of Frontier Corps (FC) soldiers in Mohmand Agency, describing it as a gruesome act.
In a letter issued on social media on late Sunday night, the Mohmand Agency Taliban chief Umar Khalid Khurrasani claimed that they have killed 23 FC soldiers, who were kidnapped by the terror outfit in 2010 from Shongari checkpost in Mohmand Agency, to avenge what he said was the custodial killing of Taliban fighters in various parts of Pakistan.
In a statement, the prime minister said that incidents like that of martyrdom of FC soldiers in Mohmand Agency cast negative impact on peace talks.
The prime minister commended the sacrifices rendered by the martyrs, saying the country could not stand idly by when such acts of murder were being committed.
Sharif said that the government had approached the idea of talks after a collective go-ahead from the political leadership at the All Parties Conference. He said that every time the talks reached an encouraging stage, they were sabotaged.
Earlier in the day, the negotiators from the government cancelled a planned meeting with the Taliban committee on Monday following the killing of the FC soldiers.
In a press conference in Akhora Khattak, a member of Taliban committee Professor Ibrahim said that a deadlock had been reached between the Taliban and government negotiators.
Ibrahim said that Maulana Samiul Haq had called Irfan Siddiqui, coordinator of the government committee to hold peace talks with negotiators representing the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who had informed him that the scheduled meeting between the two sides would not take place.
