Pak could renegotiate with TTP, if it obeys Constitution: Rana Sanaullah

Islamabad [Pakistan], January 05 (ANI) Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has said that the government could reinitiate negotiations with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) if the terror outfit “comes under the ambit of the Constitution,” the Geo News reported.

The volte-face came just a day after the minister said that the government would not hold talks with any terrorist organisation, be it TTP. “If the TTP decides to come under the ambit of the Constitution, then we can hold talks with them,” quoting Sanaullah, the Geo News has reported on Wednesday. However, similar demands had been put forth to the proscribed organisation by the previous governments of Pakistan also.

According to the Geo News, the government held peace talks with the TTP in Afghanistan, with the Afghan Taliban playing a mediatory role. But the negotiations hit a snag as no conclusive steps could be taken after the talks.
Recently, the TTP has launched multiple attacks and killed several people after ending a ceasefire with Islamabad, the Geo News said. Earlier, Khaama Press, citing stats released by the TTP itself, also reported the killing of about 1,000 people in Pakistan last year.

According to the Afghanistan news agency, most of these attacks occurred in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. But the outfit had also launched attacks outside the border province. In the Khaama Press report, Sanaulaah claimed that the TTP organised the attacks from its hideouts in Afghanistan and Pakistan has the right to attack these safe havens to protect its people from the rising attack on its border provinces.