ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani Taliban on Sunday announced a three-day ceasefire with the government in Islamabad on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha, amid a renewed surge in militant violence in the South Asian country.
The Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), are a separate group but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban. They have been emboldened since the Afghan Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.
In recent months, the Pakistani Taliban have claimed a number of attacks and are suspected by officials in several others, mainly in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province that borders Afghanistan.
In its statement, the TTP said its leader, Mufti Abu Mansoor Asim, announced the ceasefire on June 17-19, which correspond with the three-day Eid festival, on the “demand of the Pakistani people.”
“Therefore, all institutions and Mujahideen of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan should obey the above orders,” the group said in a statement. “If an action is taken by the [Pakistani] army and security agencies on this occasion, then all Mujahideen should ensure their self-defense.”
Similarly, the group said, its leader had issued a decree to reduce the sentences of all “prisoners” held by the TTP by two months.
Pakistan has witnessed a spike in militant violence in its two western provinces, KP and Balochistan, since the Pakistani Taliban called off their fragile, months-long truce with the government in November 2022.
Pakistan says Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers are giving shelter to TTP fighters across the unruly border. The Afghan Taliban government insists it doesn’t allow anyone to use Afghan soil for violence in any country.

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government is creating a special police unit for the protection of foreign nationals in Islamabad, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Sunday, as Pakistan looks to bolster security for Chinese citizens in the country. 

Naqvi’s comments came during a meeting with China’s Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong at the Chinese embassy in Islamabad on Sunday, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan said. 

China is a major ally and investor in Pakistan but both separatist and religiously motivated militants have attacked Chinese projects in recent years, killing Chinese personnel. 

The most recent attack targeting Chinese nationals took place in March when five Chinese workers were killed in a suicide bombing. The Chinese nationals were on their way to a hydropower project funded by Beijing being built in Dasu in the country’s northwest when their vehicle was targeted. 

“Mohsin Naqvi said a separate force SPU [Special Protection Unit] is being created in Islamabad for the protection of foreign nationals,” Radio Pakistan said in a report. 

The March blast was the third major attack in a little over a week on China’s interests in the South Asian nation, where Beijing has invested more than $65 billion in infrastructure, energy and other projects as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

China has repeatedly called on Pakistan to ensure its nationals in the South Asian country are kept safe from militant attacks. Islamabad has since then taken measures to enhance the security of Chinese nationals in the country. 

Naqvi briefed the Chinese envoy regarding the security plan for Chinese engineers and staff working on CPEC and other projects, the state media said. 

“The minister said no one can create a rift in the eternal friendship between Pakistan and China and any such conspiracy will never be allowed to succeed,” Radio Pakistan said. 

The minister said the security of Chinese nationals working for Pakistan’s construction and development was Islamabad’s first priority. 

“The Chinese ambassador expressed satisfaction over the security arrangements,” Radio Pakistan said. 

An SPU of the police has already been formed in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi for the security of Chinese nationals in the metropolis. 

Sindh’s top cop earlier this week reviewed security measures for Chinese nationals in the southern Pakistani province.