Taliban leader asks Pakistan, TTP to hold talks

The Taliban leader is currently on a four-day Pakistan visit.

He made the comments while addressing the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI).

“As for Pakistan’s security concerns, we ask that the government of Pakistan and the TTP sit together and find a solution to these problems on their own," he was quoted as saying by Dawn News.

“We hope […] that the problem would be resolved,” he said, answering multiple questions regarding the TTP, which is seen as one of the main perpetrators of recent terror attacks in Pakistan.

Pakistan is witnessing a rise in terror activities in recent months in  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

This surge in terror attacks was seen after Kabul-hosted talks between the TTP and the Pakistan government collapsed, resulting in an end to the ceasefire among them in November last year and the outlawed group ordering its militants to stage attacks across the country, reports Dawn News.

Pakistan says that TTP, which has ideological linkages with the Afghan Taliban, has been using the Afghan soil for attacks in Pakistan, but the administration in Kabul has denied that the militant group is operating outside of Afghanistan.