PESHAWAR, Pakistan — The deputy chief of the Pakistani Taliban announced Saturday that the militant group was in peace talks with the government and an agreement to end its brutal four-year insurgency was within striking distance.
The statement by Malvi Faqir Mohammad, which appeared timed to exploit tensions between the Pakistani army and the United States, likely will stoke further concerns in Washington over Pakistan’s reliability as a long-term partner in the fight against extremists.
It represented the first time a named Taliban commander has confirmed that the group is negotiating with the Pakistani government. Still, it was unclear whether Mohammad speaks for the entirety of the increasingly factionalized network, especially its leader, Hakimullah Mehsud.
Asked about the alleged negotiations, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that his government has followed a policy of “dialogue, deterrence and development” to tackle militants who are based in the lawless, Afghan border region.
“That is a continuing process,” he told a local television station.
Pakistani officials have stated before that they do not talk to militants unless they surrender.
Despite pushing for peace talks to end the related insurgency in Afghanistan, Washington is unlikely to support similar efforts to strike a deal in Pakistan. Ties between the countries have been on a downward trend all year and were dealt a massive blow by an airstrike by U.S-led forces based in Afghanistan two weeks ago that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. The attack triggered anti-Americanism in the country, including within the army ranks.
American forces and their NATO and Afghan allies regularly come under attack from Afghan militants and al-Qaeda operatives, who live alongside Pakistani Taliban militants in the border region. Previous peace deals in the northwest didn’t last long and gave militants time to rest and regroup, as well as space for foreign extremists to prosper.
After heavy U.S pressure and billions in aid, the army pummeled militants in the northwest over the past four years, helped greatly by American-fired drone strikes, killing many hundreds but falling well short of victory. Nevertheless, the pressure may have helped put the insurgents into talks, or led factions to suggest a truce.
Despite the Taliban’s record of indiscriminate violence, much of it directed at civilians, there is political and public support for talks.
