PESHAWAR: In talks with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), famously known as the Pakistani Taliban, the government has agreed to release its members.
According to a report in the Jang newspaper, the government agreed to release several prisoners in the ceasefire talks with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban. Peace talks began in February this year, with the Afghan Taliban acting as a guarantor, sources said, adding that the TTP would declare a ceasefire.
Those released in the first phase include Mahmood Khan, Muslim Khan, and Maulvi Omar, but Pakistani officials and TTP spokesman Muhammad Khorasani have not officially confirmed the development.
According to sources, the government has agreed to release 102 Taliban prisoners in the first phase in return for which the banned TTPCs will declare fire.
Sources said that Mahmood Khan and Muslim Khan have been taken to Afghanistan in view of possible release. There are also reports that Maulvi Omar, former spokesman of the banned TTP, is also among those released in the first phase.
Taliban sources say some detainees have called their families after 13 years to tell about themselves, but sources also said that most of the problems in the peace process have been resolved and the two sides have agreed on a future agenda.
