Taliban bin govt’s talks offer with suicide attack

Just a day after the banned terror outfit, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) accused the federal government of planning an operation against them and warned it was ready for any such action, a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a security checkpost in the Taliban-infested North Waziristan Agency, killing at least five soldiers and injuring 34 others.

The attack came in the Mir Ali area of Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region.

Ansarul Mujahideen, a little-known militant group linked to the TTP claimed the responsibility hours after the attack on Kajhoori checkpost on the border between North Waziristan and Bannu Frontier Region.

“It is revenge for the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud by a US drone,” Abu Baseer, a purported spokesperson of the group said by telephone. “We will continue such attacks in future as drones continue to kill our people,” he said.

A senior security official said that “a truck laden with explosives was rammed into the checkpoint when security officials were offering evening prayers”. As a result, “five soldiers embraced shahadat (martyrdom)”, the official said.

“The checkpoint has been completely destroyed and 34 injured security personnel have also been recovered,” he said, adding that security personnel were still removing bodies from the checkpoint.

Another security official confirmed the toll, adding that out of the 34 injured, 28 were soldiers and 6 from the Frontier Corps, the paramilitary group serving in Pakistan’s northwest and tribal areas.

“The soldiers were offering prayers at the time of the blast,” the official said.

TALKS FIRST OPTION

On Tuesday, the Taliban had repeated their doubts about the government’s sincerity in holding peace talks, alleging that the “dollar-hungry and powerless” government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was planning a military operation against the militants.

“Like previous governments, this one is also a puppet of the United States. It’s powerless and dollar-hungry…they should happily launch a military operation against us. We have seen their military operations in the past and would like them to start this long-awaited operation,” TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid had said in a statement.

Also on Tuesday, top civilian and military leadership of the country reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the strategy of dialogue with the TTP and other militant groups, stating that considering the use of other options will only be used as a “last resort”.

The agreement between the mindset of the civilian and military’s top brass on holding peace talks with the militants was reached during the first meeting of the Cabinet Committee on National Security (CCNS) after the new army chief, General Raheel Sharif took over command from his predecessor, General (r) Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.