Taliban must give up arms before talks – Pakistan

Rehman Malik
Pakistan’s Interior Minister

Taliban must give up arms before talks – Pakistan

Pakistan’s Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, has said Pakistan will only hold peace talks with Taliban insurgents if they lay down their arms first. 

Malik told reporters: "The minimum agenda is that they give up arms and come forward and then there will be talks. But if they think they will keep Kalashnikovs in their hands and also hold talks, that will not happen." 
Both sides have indicated recently they were open to talks.  

Attacks

The Tehrik-e-Taliban, or Taliban Movement of Pakistan, has been waging a campaign of attacks including suicide bombings across the South Asian nation since 2007 in a bid to topple the U.S.-backed government.

A series of army offensives against Pakistani Taliban strongholds along the rugged mountainous border with Afghanistan has failed to contain the group, which is close to al Qaeda and is the biggest security threat to Pakistan.

Last year, the United States added the Pakistani Taliban to its list of foreign terrorist organizations and set rewards of up to 5 million dollars for information leading to the capture of two of its leaders.

Past peace deals with the group failed to improve security, and instead enabled the group to build up strength and impose its harsh version of Islam in areas ceded to it. 

Reuters/Ehimen/Ekata