Afghan Taliban say mediating between Islamabad, Pakistani Taliban but no agreement yet

Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi gestures while speaking during an event held in the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad, Pakistan, on November 12, 2021. (AFP/File)

• Pakistan has agreed to a one-month cease-fire with local Taliban militants which may be extended 
• Two sides have been meeting across the border in Afghanistan with the aid of Afghan Taliban leaders

ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said on Saturday the Afghan Taliban were mediating talks between the Pakistan government and the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) but no agreement had been reached as yet.
The Pakistan government said this week it had agreed to a one-month cease-fire with local Taliban militants which could be extended if both sides agreed, opening the possibility for a fuller peace accord to help end years of bloodshed.
The Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), are a separate movement from the Afghan Taliban and have fought for years to overthrow the government in Islamabad and rule the South Asian nation of 220 million with their own brand of Islamic law.
There have been numerous failed attempts to reach peace agreements in the past. The latest talks opened following the victory of the Afghan Taliban in August and the two sides have been meeting across the border in Afghanistan, with the aid of Afghan Taliban leaders.
Muttaqi told BBC Urdu the two sides had not yet reached an agreement yet, but it was a “good start” that a temporary cease-fire had been announced. 
“The government of Pakistan and banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan have agreed on a complete cease-fire,” Pakistan’s Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said in a statement on November 9.
Best known in the West for attempting to kill Malala Yousafzai, the schoolgirl who went on to win the Nobel Prize for her work promoting girls’ education, the TTP has killed thousands of military personnel and civilians over the years in bombings and suicide attacks.
Among its attacks was a 2014 assault on a military-run school in Peshawar, near the border with Afghanistan, which killed 149 people, including 132 children.
As recently as last Saturday, it claimed a bomb blast that killed four soldiers and wounded another in North Waziristan tribal district. It said the attack was in revenge for the killing of four of its fighters two days earlier.