Imran Khan's PTI seeks pro-Taliban cleric's help to initiate peace talks with outfit

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has sought the help of an elderly pro-Taliban cleric to initiate peace talks with the militants, party officials have said.

The political party approached Samiul Haq, also known as the "Father of the Taliban", after emerging from elections as the largest party in the troubled northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, reports The Express Tribune.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is on the frontline of a nearly seven-year domestic Taliban insurgency and suffers near-daily bomb and shooting attacks.

PTI chief Imran Khan has called for an end to military operations and peace talks with the Taliban. He has vowed to put together a provincial coalition government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and turn it into a "role model" for the rest of the country.

Shaukat Yousafzai, a party leader who won a seat for the party in the provincial assembly said the party would talk to all stakeholders for establishment of peace in their province, and meeting with Samiul Haq was a part of that.

Samiul Haq is chief of his own faction of the religious Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-S) party and runs a madrassa that educated several Taliban leaders.

The PTI reportedly asked Samiul Haq to play his role in establishment of peace in the province to which he gave a positive response.

Previous Pakistani governments, as well as the military, have forged ad hoc peace deals with insurgent factions in various parts of the northwestern tribal belt, which have often broken down quickly.