**
“It would be too generous to say that
the possibility of peace talks is zero"**
Ehsanullah Ehsan, senior commander of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), ruled out any chance of peace talks on Saturday.
In an interview with Newsweek magazine, he declared that dialogue with the government is not even a remote possibility following Hakimullah Mehsud’s death.
“After this incident, there can be no peace talks,” he said. “It would be too generous to say that the possibility of peace talks is zero; the chances are, in fact, below zero. This incident was a violation of Pakhtun culture.”
Ehsan further highlighted his group’s now hardened position by vowing to avenge Hakimullah’s death.
“Hakimullah Mehsud was our leader, our hearts are heavy and our anger will soon be felt by everyone. The ruse of peace talks has been used to eliminate our leaders one by one,” he said, adding that the group will utilise its capabilities to target security organisations and anyone who is “a part of this system.”
During the interview, the TTP commander ruled out the possibility that the death was an inside job, and held the government responsible.
He expressed absolute certainty that the Pakistan Army was behind the strike, and said he was ‘110% sure’ the country’s security organisations were involved, as well.
“For every drone attack, about 80% of the information and ground intelligence is provided by Pakistani security organisations,” Ehsan claimed.
Source
I hope this time he knows what he is saying, unlike last time when he was thrown out of his job for giving an unaproved statement.
In any case, political leadership of the country should start for an all-out strategy to deal with the fallout which is about to unfold. No more complacency. The latest reaction of the military through the ISPR speaks volume of the mindset of the armed forces. Do we need more APCs on the subject?