MIRANSHAH: The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has denied media reports that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led government was holding peace talks with the militant group, saying that no contacts had been made between the group and any government official.
“I categorically deny the holding of peace talks on any level between the Taliban and Pakistani government,” the TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid told a foreign news agency from an undisclosed location on Saturday.
“No contacts have even been made between us, nor have we received any offer to initiate peace talks” the spokesman added.
Earlier, Information Minister Pervez Rashid told media that unofficial talks between the government side and Taliban are in progress.
Rashid said the government’s main objective was to restore peace and it would do everything possible to achieve that. “We have to rid the country of the menace of terrorism for which all options would be utilised,” he was quoted as saying.
Moreover, the BBC also quoting an unnamed top Taliban commander reported that several issues were discussed during the talks between the government and militants which included stopping sectarian attacks in Pakistan and disassociation from al-Qaeda and organizations like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
However, the TTP spokesman called these media reports a propaganda, saying that “It is complete propaganda, the government must make it public if it has any proof of any such talks.”
