Taliban-brokered Pakistan-TTP talks end in deadlock: Reports

Kabul: The recent talks between Pakistan and the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have reached a deadlock as the militant group refused to budge from its demand for the reversal of the merger of erstwhile Fata with the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, media reports said.

There has also been a stalemate over the issue of TTP laying down their arms in case of a peace deal, which would enable them to return to their homeland, reports The Express Tribune.

Sources familiar with the development revealed that there had been a series of meetings between the two sides in recent weeks to break the impasse yet there had been no breakthrough so far.

In a latest push to take the process forwards, Pakistan sent a second delegation in a week to break the stalemate.

Following the visit of a delegation of Ulema led by Mufti Taqi Usmani, a tribal jirga arrived in Kabul on Saturday.

The purpose of the Ulema delegation’s visit was to use the good offices of the religious clerics to persuade the TTP to withdraw their demand for Fata merger and other contentious issues.

However, the TTP leadership did not give any firm assurance as the Ulema also pressed them to lay down their arms and return to Pakistan, the newspaper reported.

“There is a deadlock. And the prospects of a peace deal are not bright,” a source connected to the peace efforts told the newspaper.

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