PESHAWAR: The head of the caretaker committee of the Tehreek-i-Taliban, Qari Shakil, made telephonic contact with a member of the Taliban committee Maulana Abdul Aziz, the Khateeb of Lal Masjid in Islamabad, and said that the TTP caretaker negotiation team was waiting for the arrival of the dialogue committees for an early initiation of peace talks. The News, Dawn, The Frontier Post, Daily Mashriq.
WASHINGTON: The United States has cut back sharply on drone strikes in Pakistan after the Islamabad government asked for restraint while it seeks peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban, the Washington Post reported. The News, Dawn, Daily Mashriq.
MANSEHRA: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Mufti Kifayatullah on Wednesday backed his party’s stance on the issue of government-Taliban talks and questioned as to why Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif kept his party, PML-N, out of the four-member government committee. The News, Dawn.
PESHAWAR: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) deputy chief and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Senior Minister Sirajul Haq on Wednesday announced full support to the government and Taliban-formed committees for peace talks and said that any bid to sabotage the talks process would be tantamount to enmity with the country. The News.
KOHAT: A house was partially damaged in an hand-grenade attack in Dheri Banda in the limits of City Police Station on early Wednesday, sources said. The sources said that unidentified persons lobbed a hand-grenade into the house of one Faheem that partially damaged its boundary wall but caused no loss of life. Soon after the explosion, the police and bomb disposal unit reached the spot and collective pieces of evidence. The News.
PESHAWAR: Confirming reports about the lack of coordination between different tiers of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the head of the Peshawar chapter of the outlawed organisation has belatedly claimed responsibility for the Koocha Risaldar suicide bombing in the city in which nine people were killed and around 50 were wounded late Tuesday evening. The News, Dawn, Daily Mashriq.
LONDON: The Taliban are living in a “fantasy world” and their chances of achieving their objectives after Western troops leave Afghanistan are extremely low, a military think-tank expert said on Wednesday. The News.
SWABI: Unidentified motorcyclists shot dead a money-changer and decamped with a huge amount in Karnal Sher Khan Killay in the limits of Kalu Khan Police Station on Wednesday He was identified as Shaukat Ali. The News.
ISLAMABAD: The announcement by the officially banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) regarding the formation of a committee for holding peace talks with the government has once again brought the chief cleric of Lal Masjid, Maulana Abdul Aziz, into the limelight. The cleric, who had become famous during the 2007 military operation in Lal Masjid, is in the three-member committee announced by the TTP on February 1. Dawn.
MIRAMSHAH: Four people were killed when unknown assailants opened fire on people sitting along a roadside in Mirali area of North Waziristan Agency on Wednesday evening. Sources said that unknown attackers opened fire from a tinted glassed car on four persons who were sitting along the Miranshah-Mirali road near Nowrak area, killing them on the spot. The attackers managed to escape after the incident. The names of the deceased could not be ascertained nor the motive behind the attack. Dawn, The Frontier Post, Daily Mashriq.
PESHAWAR: Police investigators were clueless on Wednesday about the group behind the Tuesday suicide bombing outside a hotel in Peshawar after the denial of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan about involvement in the terrorist activity. Dawn, The Frontier Post.
PESHAWAR: Abdullah Jan, a 75-year-old retired army man who came to Peshawar for treatment of heart ailment, did not know he would land in a major hospital with a broken leg and other injuries. He received injuries in the suicide blast targeting a restaurant near an Imambargah here on Tuesday night. Dawn, Daily Mashriq.
LANDI KOTAL: The newly appointed Political Agent of Khyber Agency, Shahab Ali Shah, paid a rare visit to Bara, the first by a political agent (PA) in three years, where he was briefed about steps taken to restore peace in the area and reopening of some roads. Dawn.
ISLAMABAD: Setting tough conditions for the government wants to end the insurgency through dialogue Patron of Taliban negotiations committee Maulana Samiul Haq, has said that there would be no peace in the country without implementation of sharia laws and withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. The Frontier Post, Daily Mashriq.
ISLAMABAD: According to sources, the government peace committee will also meet DG ISI Lieutenant General Zaheerul Islam on Thursday. The meeting will discuss the progress in peace talks with Taliban. The Frontier Post.
