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Waziristan peace deal dead

By Haji Mujtaba and Akhtar Amin

MIRANSHA/PESHAWAR: Taliban militants in North Waziristan Agency announced on Sunday that they were pulling out of a peace deal they signed with the government last year.

“We are ending the agreement today,” the Taliban shura or council stated in pamphlets distributed in Miranshah, the capital of North Waziristan. “We had struck the truce with the government to save people’s lives and property, but today we announce the truce’s termination again for the sake of the people.”

The Taliban said the government had repeatedly violated the terms of the agreement. Security forces had attacked the Taliban in Dwatoi, Saidgai, Paryat and Godai Waila. The government had also backtracked on its promise to compensate tribesmen and solve their problems with check-posts, the Taliban statement said. “So we are left with no option but to end the truce.” The Taliban warned Khasadar and levies personnel not to perform official duties with army and paramilitary troops, otherwise they would also be attacked.

The Taliban also announced amnesty for pro-government tribal elders, but warned that they should not conduct any jirgas with the government. Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao told a private channel that it was the Taliban who violated the agreement. “They violated the truce by challenging the government’s writ and attacking government installations, the army and innocent people,” the interior minister said. He said the government would maintain its writ at all cost and would deal strictly with those taking the law into their own hands.

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