Why is Pakistan’s attempt to negotiate with Taliban insurgents backfiring?

Taliban insurgents (TTP) have taken advantage of a ceasefire to re-establish an armed presence in northwest Pakistan resulting in an escalation in violence

Infuriated byfailure of authorities to take action to dislodge the resurgent TTP, large scale public protests have been held in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province

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Pakistan’s attempt to negotiate peace with Taliban insurgents has backfired, with hundreds of militants taking advantage of a ceasefire to re-establish a significant armed presence in country’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Photo: EPA/File

Published: 8:45pm, 25 Oct 2022

Pakistan’s attempt to negotiate peace with Taliban insurgents has backfired, with hundreds of militants taking advantage of confidence-building measures, including a ceasefire to re-establish a significant armed presence in northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Instead of coming in peace with a view to agreeing to an armistice and restoring safety to civilians as Pakistani negotiators had hoped, the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has instead in recent months resumed daily terrorist attacks, revenge killings, and kidnappings for ransom and extortion.

Under the terms of a ceasefire agreed in early June, Pakistani negotiators agreed to allow hundreds of TTP militants to return to their home areas as a confidence-building measure, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government officials and counterterrorism police officers told This Week In Asia.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to the press.

Corroborating their reports, Islamabad-based security analyst Saifullah Mahsud said “the Pakistani side miscalculated” the TTP militants’ intentions.

Instead of returning home as defeated men looking to surrender in return for a pardon, TTP militants re-entered Pakistan’s tribal districts “full of confidence and with the intention of making a show of strength”, he said.