Mixed signals from Pakistan responsible for Afghan Taliban’s inaction against TTP: Foreign Minister Zardari

Islamabad [Pakistan], February 21 (ANI): Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has claimed that mixed signals from Pakistan were responsible for Afghan Taliban’s inaction against the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Dawn newspaper reported.

Zardari in an interview with German broadcaster DW Urdu said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had asked the Taliban to facilitate reconciliation with the TTP and had plans to resettle the militants in Pakistan, the Dawn reported.

According to Zardari, every Pakistani demanded that terrorists involved in attacks such as the Army Public School massacre could never be the country’s friends.
The minister had earlier blamed PTI for negotiating with terrorists without any precondition.

“Those people who don’t accept Pakistan and don’t accept the Constitution, I don’t think negotiating with them is in the interest of Pakistan or its people,” Zardari told DW Urdu.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman said that the western forces’ withdrawal gave space to various terrorist groups in Afghanistan which caused immense challenges for the country.

Recently, TTP warned of more attacks in Pakistan after storming the Karachi Police chief’s office, Business Recorder reported.

“The policemen should stay away from our war with the slave army, otherwise the attacks on the safe havens of the top police officers will continue,” TTP said in an English-language statement on Saturday.

“We want to warn the security agencies once again to stop martyring innocent prisoners in fake encounters otherwise the intensity of future attacks will be more severe, ” it said.

The hours-long combat on Friday between terrorists and law-enforcement agencies — comprising Pak Army Special Service Group (SSG), Pakistan Rangers Sindh & Sindh Police — at the Karachi Police Office in Sharea Faisal left four people killed and 19 injured, as per the report in Dawn.

All three terrorists belonging to the banned group TTP were killed.

Karachi Police office was attacked on Friday at 7:10 pm, while police and Pakistan Rangers personnel cleared the five-story building in phases, finally sweeping the entire office by around 10:46 pm.

The police are often used on the frontline of Pakistan’s battle with the Taliban and are frequently a target of militants who accuse them of extra-judicial killings.
Imran Khan recently blamed the negligence of Pakistan’s security forces and intelligence agencies for the rising incidents of terrorism in the country, Pakistan-based Dawn newspaper reported.

Khan, in an interview with Voice of America (VOA) aired on Saturday, spoke about the criticism received by the PTI for its decision to negotiate with the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) before the party was ousted.