PESHAWAR: The chief of the Taliban negotiating committee Maulana Samiul Haq said on Wednesday that internal clashes within different groups of the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) will not affect the dialogue process.
Talking to media in Peshawar on Wednesday, Maulana Sami further said that both the negotiating committees will meet within a couple of days to decide the venue of next round of talks with the Taliban.
His statement comes at a time when the TTP Shura is meeting to decide the future of peace talks and the TTP ceasefire which expired on April 10.
The media citing sources reported that the issue of infighting between two militant groups affected the Taliban Shura meeting. The sources said the Shura did not take any decision about the ceasefire but asked all militant groups to abide by its previous decision.
An important leader who is a member of the political shura of the TTP’s Karachi circle, Haji Dawood, told media by phone that a delegation of senior Taliban commanders would soon visit Afghanistan to meet the TTP chief Maulana Fazlullah to seek his directive about the infighting between Mehsud Taliban groups. He said the Shura took the decision after three days of deliberations.
Dawood said the infighting between the groups of Sheryar Mehsud and Khan Said alias Sajna was an urgent issue for the Shura which decided to refer the matter to Maulana Fazlullah.
Moreover, he said the delegation would put forward opinions of both groups and the decision of the TTP chief would be acceptable to them.
The TTP leader further said that most of Taliban seniors had reservations about extension of truce. They wanted some explanations from the government, he added.
