As reports of the talks emerged, officials said Monday that gunmen ambushed a paramilitary convoy in southwestern Balochistan province, killing 14 soldiers. Balochi nationalists have waged a decades-long insurgency against the government, demanding greater independence and a larger share of the province’s natural resource wealth.

The Pakistani Taleban have waged a separate war against the government. A peace deal between authorities and the group could represent the best hope of ending years of fighting that has killed thousands of security personnel and civilians. But it is unclear whether the talks will gain traction or if the Pakistani Taleban are unified enough to actually strike a deal. It is also uncertain whether a deal could last.

The government has cut peace deals with the Pakistani Taleban in the past, but they have largely fallen apart. The agreements have been criticized for allowing the militants to regroup and rebuild their strength to resume fighting the government and foreign troops in Afghanistan.

Talk of a new peace deal could be troubling to the United States if it is seen as providing militants with greater space to carry out operations in neighboring Afghanistan. However, Washington’s push for a peace deal with the Afghan Taleban could make it difficult to oppose an agreement in Pakistan. The Afghan and Pakistani Taleban are allies but have primarily focused their attacks on opposite sides of the border.

As a confidence building measure, the Pakistani Taleban released five officials from the country’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency who were kidnapped in Balochistan province, the officials and the commander said in the interviews.

The Pakistani Taleban’s top demand is that the army pull out of the South Waziristan tribal area, which served as the group’s main sanctuary before a large military offensive in 2009, said the commander, who is close to Pakistani Taleban chief Hakimullah Mehsud.

The army could be replaced by the paramilitary Frontier Corps, but the militants have demanded that only local police conduct patrols. They also want the government to pay compensation for damages incurred during the South Waziristan operation, free Pakistani Taleban prisoners and allow the group’s leaders to move freely throughout the country.

According to the intelligence officials and the militants, the Pakistani Taleban’s leadership council held a meeting in mid-September in which they came up with these demands. They also authorized the group’s deputy leader, Maulana Waliur Rehman, to hold talks with the government. For their part, military officials have said they have not held any recent peace talks with the Pakistani Taleban.

The attack on the paramilitary Frontier Corps convoy in Baluchistan occurred Sunday night about 150 km northeast of the provincial capital, Quetta, said Frontier Corps spokesman Murtaza Baig. Ten soldiers were also wounded.

The Baluchistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the group’s spokesman, Azad Baluch, who alleged the group’s fighters killed 40 paramilitary soldiers.

Elsewhere in Pakistan, militants attacked army forces in the Orakzai tribal area, killing two officers and wounding 10 soldiers, said Salim Khan, a local government administrator. The army retaliated, killing 35 militants, he said.