BAJAUR: Hours after Sahibzada Harun ur Rashid, head of the Bajaur tribal Jirga, acknowledged a deadlock in negotiations with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the group confirmed that the talks had ended without results. The breakdown has heightened fears over the security situation in Bajaur, which borders Afghanistan.
On Saturday, militants attacked a police station in Loi Mamond, though no casualties were reported.
The peace process began earlier this month when the Jirga urged TTP members to either return to Afghanistan or relocate to remote mountains, warning that locals would not accept their presence in populated areas. The TTP rejected this, insisting they were locals and would not leave.
Harun ur Rashid said the stalemate was caused by statements from both sides, but the Jirga would continue efforts for peace. He appealed to both the TTP and security forces to avoid harming civilians and called on the Afghan government to support peace efforts. Religious scholars have also backed the Jirga’s initiative.
The talks reportedly collapsed after senior TTP leader Gul Muhammad Bajauri — brother of former deputy chief Mullah Faqir Muhammad — presented new demands, including the enforcement of Sharia in tribal districts and Malakand, the establishment of a “Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” system similar to the Afghan Taliban’s ministry, and Afghan government mediation.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s government and security officials urged tribal elders to expel militants, most of them Afghan nationals, warning that if tribes could not remove them, they should vacate the area temporarily to allow targeted operations. Officials stressed there would be no government-level talks with militants unless they surrendered, and pledged to continue action against them while minimizing civilian casualties.
Authorities framed the Jirga as a step to protect civilians before any operation, reiterating that neither religion, the state, nor local traditions permit compromise with the enemies of Islam and Pakistan.
