Stating that the army has not carried out a military operation in North Waziristan, Corp Commander Peshawar Lt General Khalid Rabbani said that it was up to the political government to decide whether it wanted to hold talks with Taliban or not.
Meanwhile, reports are coming in that the TTP has withdrawn the offer of talks over what it says is government’s non-serious attitude.
It should be clear that talks and bombs do not go together. To take up the TTP’s offer, the TTP would first have to lay down arms. Plainly enough, if the intention is to work towards a genuine peace agreement, as Gen Rabbani would have us believe -- the need is to quash local strongholds and check the forays of the Afghan Taliban from across the border some of which are already engaged with talks with the NATO forces. Peshawar was yet again attacked on Monday when terrorists stormed the Judicial Complex and suicide bombers caused the deaths of four and injuries to 30. In Karachi, a college principle was shot dead, aimed at further exacerbating the sectarian divide.
These never-ending attacks are emblematic of our failure to prevent the movement of insurgents from Afghanistan into our territory as well as the absence of a thorough policy to neutralise the TTP’s threat. Primarily, it is the indecision to deal with the problem with single-mindedness that has to be coped.