Pakistani Taliban has ended a ceasefire with the govt, and it is bad news for Pakistan

Pakistan's Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group, also known as Pakistani Taliban, has ended indefinite ceasefire with the Pakistani government and has decided to launch a spate of attacks across the country.

On Monday (November 28), the TTP ended the ceasfire with the Pakistan government which was called in June 2022. Interestingly, the fallout between the Pakistani authorities and Pakistani Taliban comes at a time when Pakistan's new army chief General Asim Munir is taking charge on November 29. 

The group claims that since the Pakistani army had continued its onslaught against TTP's mujahideen's, it was calling off the indefinite ceasefire. "As military operations are ongoing against mujahideens in different areas, so it is imperative for you to carry out attacks whereever you can in the entire country," the statement from Pakistan Taliban said addressing its militants, Pakistan's news agency, the Dawn reported.

What TTP wants: The TTP group wants establishment of Shariah law in Pakistan against Pakistan's constitution which it deems as un-Islamic.

• The group demands the imposition of hardline Islamic laws, release of key members arrested by the government and the reversal of the merger of the Pakistan's areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
• On November 16, the TTP group had claimed responsibility for the attack on police patrol in Lakki Marwat, about 200 km (125miles) southwest of the provincial capital, Peshawar. 6 policemen had died in the attack.
• In fact, the group has been on an attacking spree since September 2022 when the negotiations between the Pakistani government and TTP fell. Most of the attacks have been around Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, South Waziristan and North Waziristan distrcts in KP.

  

  Pakistani government vs Pakistani Taliban:

• In July 2022, a 17-member delegation of tribal leaders and others had reached Kabul to resume talks with the TTP group. The Afghan Taliban all through has acted as a a mediator between the Pakistani government and Pakistani Taliban group.
• Mufti Taqi Usmani, a cleric from Pakistan who had been part of the delegation and was equally respected by the Afghan Taliban as well as the TTP group had said to the TTP delegation that he had reviewed Pakistan's constitution and there was nothing un-Islamic in it, the Dawn reported.
• Mufti Usmani had also said even if the group claims that one or two clauses of the constitution are un-Islamic, it was not their mandate to make changes in it or justify their actions of taking up against the state.
• The talks between the TTP group and Pakistani goverment had started in October 2021 but they fell after two months in December. The talks reinitiated in May 2022 and twice delegations from Pakistan went to Afghanistan where TTP's leader hide to have negotiations.
• However, the talks broke because of the TTP group's demand of the revocation of merger of erstwhile tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• The last talks between the Pakistani government and TTP took place in June 2022 and after that their have been no negotiations.

  

  What now? The terrorist attacks and the battle between Pakistani army and TTP fighters is expected to intensify in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

• For instance, hours after ending of the ceasefire, 10 Talibani fighters including a TTP commander Tipu was killed in Waziristan in north-west Pakistan after fighting with Pakistani Army.
• The security forces also suffered some casualties but the exact number could not be confirmed.
• In the coming days, new army chief Asim Munir's tenure will be rough as the battle rages on with the TTP group. His predecessor General Qamar Javed Bajwa had a strong angst against the TTP, and had faciliated many attacks on the group.