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Pakistan on Wednesday released 30 of the top leaders of the proscribed terrorist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as part of a peace deal brokered by the Afghan Taliban that it had facilitated to seize power in Kabul last August.
Talks are continuing with the TTP demanding amnesty for all its fighters and fugitives as well as an end to the Pakistan Army's military operations in South Waziristan apart from the releases, Al Arabia Post reported. Sheltered for two decades after being toppled from power in 2001, the Taliban had been reluctant to push out the TTP fighters and their families because of their ideological affinity and the fact that thousands had fought against the erstwhile Ashraf Ghani Government, the report said. However, the Taliban regime was forced to take a quick decision with the US showing an inclination towards returning to the Asian theatre after ending its Ukraine distraction, the report said. The Taliban regime's interest lies in gradually winning global recognition, denied for the last nine months. Several governments are currently considering establishing diplomatic ties with the Taliban regime, ending the regime's global pariah status while also tacitly reconciling with a regime that has resisted pressures to make their government inclusive and treat their women better, the report said. Taliban appears to have brokered the deal between Islamabad and the rebels, even detaining TTP leaders and handing them over to Pakistan, to prove its usefulness to the world community, the report further said. The Afghan Taliban is also seeking an end to violent skirmishes that the TTP's presence on its soil has been causing. Also, a landlocked Afghanistan is heavily dependent upon Pakistan, the report added. However, there is no guarantee that all TTP rebels would surrender or not continue to use the vast, mountainous terrain along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to unleash violence that has, during the course of time, according to Pakistan's official figures, killed 83,000 civilians. This unmanageable terrain has been Pakistan's Achilles' heel, the report said. The challenge remains serious for Islamabad as the TTP has spread its activities to other provinces and successive regimes have proved unable to control them. (ANI)
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