ISLAMABAD, Sept 30: The Pakistani Taliban have reportedly told Imran Khan’s Tehrik-e-Insaf party that they will not make any attempt to disrupt its “peace march” to South Waziristan, according to a media report today.
The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan led by Hakimullah has also informed the leadership of the Tehrik-e-Insaf that the militants were even ready to provide security to the march to Kotkai town in the tribal belt, The News daily reported.
Kotkai is the hometown of Hakimullah and his cousin Qari Hussain, better known as a mentor of suicide bombers.
Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf leader Asad Qaiser confirmed that the Taliban leadership had assured that the peace march to South Waziristan would not be attacked.
“The TTP leaders have approached us and their response was positive,” he said.
“The purpose of our peace march is to inform the world about the destruction that the so-called war on terror has caused to the Pakhtuns in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the tribal areas,” he said.
However, senior officials in Peshawar said the government was reluctant to allow the rally in the volatile South Waziristan Agency.
“The situation is not satisfactory for public rallies in South Waziristan and it is yet to be decided whether or not the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf would hold its rally in Kotkai,” a senior unnamed official said.
Taliban sources privy to a recent meeting of senior militant commanders chaired by Hakimullah said they were happy with Imran Khan’s role in highlighting the suffering of the tribal people affected by militancy and supporting victims of US drone attacks.
The militant commanders felt that it was their responsibility to welcome and protect the people joining the peace march since Khan and his supporters were coming to the tribal area to highlight the hardship and miseries of the tribesmen, and the Mehsuds in particular.
“What Imran Khan and his party are doing today should have been done by the Pakhtun politicians and religious leaders hailing from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and tribal areas,” a senior Taliban leader said.
He said the Taliban commanders had informed the leadership of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf about the reported threat of suicide attacks against them in case they decided to march to North Waziristan instead of South Waziristan. (PTI)
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