Pak Taliban extends ceasefire until April 10

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Press Trust of India Peshawar
Last Updated : Apr 04 2014 | 6:19 PM IST
The Pakistani Taliban today extended the ceasefire until April 10 and said it would decide later on the future course of action on peace talks with the government.
The extension comes a day after the Interior Ministry announced that it had released 19 non-combatant Taliban as a goodwill gesture for bolstering the peace process with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.
The group's spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said the Taliban shura has extended the deadline and would sit after April 10 to decide about the future of talks.
He said the Taliban were still awaiting a reply from the government regarding the group's demands, including the release of non-combatants, but despite the passage of three days above the ceasefire deadline, the government had not yet responded to the TTP.
The TTP spokesman said that they had ordered its affiliates to put a halt to all sorts of 'Jihadi' activities against government and law enforcement agencies until further orders.
The page-long statement also said that the TTP wanted to clarify its position before the nation that it was serious about the talks but the response from the government had not encouraging.
It added that despite the fact the government's peace committee had met the Taliban leadership empty-handed, the Taliban had shown willingness to talk peace.
The government had yesterday announced the release of 19 non-combatant Taliban.
The Interior Ministry said the it was the first large batch of people freed since the launch of military operation in South Waziristan in 2009.
A spokesman for the ministry said the prisoners released were non-combatant Taliban belonging to the Mehsud tribe.
The ministry did not release their names.
It said three of them had been released on March 21, five on March 25 and 11 on March 28.
They were arrested on suspicion or on the basis of intelligence reports.
The month-long ceasefire announced by the Taliban had ended on March 31.
During the first-ever direct talks with government negotiators on March 26, the Taliban had agreed the ceasefire will remain in place throughout the dialogue process.
The peace talks were held to find a solution to the deadly cycle of violence that has claimed over 40,000 lives.

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First Published: Apr 04 2014 | 6:19 PM IST

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