The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has demanded that the government release a number of prisoners as a condition for talks aimed at laying the ground for full ceasefire negotiations, multiple sources in the group said. The group has had two rounds of preliminary talks, facilitated by the Afghan Taliban, a commander based in the Afghan province of Kunar said. Sources close to the matter said Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of the Haqqani Network and the current Afghan Taliban interior minister, was helping the talks. The release of the prisoners is meant to be a confidence-building measure, three TTP commanders said, adding that the outcome of the talks was still uncertain. Another TTP commander said the group's leadership had consulted all factions in the movement, some of which had serious reservations about talking to the government, but he said many ordinary fighters wanted to go home.

Source: The Express Tribune November 06, 2021 19:06 UTC