ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan's government and the Pakistani Taliban have agreed on a 'complete ceasefire,' Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said on Monday, saying the two sides were continuing to hold peace talks.
The development comes a month after PM Khan told media his government was holding talks with factions of the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is a separate group from the Afghan Taliban. The PM said his government would forgive TTP members who had laid down weapons.
Thousands of Pakistanis have been killed in violence perpetrated by the TTP over the last two decades and the group has accepted responsibility for several high-profile attacks, including an assassination attempt on activist and now Nobel prize winner Malala Yousafzai and an attack on an army-run school in Peshawar in which 134 children and 19 adults were killed in December 2014.
Hussain said state supremacy, national security, peace in tribal districts, and socio-economic stability would be kept foremost in the negotiations.
"A complete ceasefire has been agreed under the agreement," Hussain told reporters in Islamabad. "Keeping in view the progress of talks, the ceasefire will continue to be extended."
Hussain said the negotiations between his government and TTP were being facilitated by the Afghan Taliban.
The press briefing came after a five-hour-long meeting of the Pakistani parliament's national security committee, which was briefed by top military officials.
The information minister said participants of the national security briefing discussed Kashmir, the situation in Afghanistan and talks with the outlawed TTP.
Hussain said people of the tribal areas could not be ignored in the talks and they were being taken into confidence during negotiations.
"And this is certainly very welcoming," he added, "that these areas of Pakistan are heading towards peace after a long time."
The TTP neither explicitly confirmed nor denied agreeing to a ceasefire or reaching a peace agreement with the Pakistani government.
"A meeting of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan leadership is under way with regard to talks and ceasefire," it said in a statement.
A formal announcement would be made after the meeting, the group added.