Pakistani Taliban extend truce with government in Islamabad

By MUNIR AHMED
Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban says they have indefinitely extended a cease-fire with the government in Islamabad. The announcement late on Thursday followed two days of talks in Kabul with a 50-member delegation of Pakistani tribal elders, sent as emissaries by Islamabad. A spokesman for the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan group or TTP says they decided on the indefinite extension of the truce after “substantial progress” in the talks with the elders. He didn’t elaborate and there was no immediate reaction from the Pakistani government. The talks in Kabul were hosted by the Afghan Taliban, a separate but allied group with the TTP.