'Pakistan not holding talks with TTP,' reiterates FO

• FO says Pakistan has no plans to hold talks with TTP in future.
• Says Islamabad expects Kabul to take action against terror groups.
• Recent terror attack on Dasu Dam killed five Chinese engineers.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan once again said that it was not holding talks withTehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), stressing that it neither had any plans to negotiate with the terrorist organisation in future, The News reported Friday.

"I will reiterate what we have said in the past. Pakistan is not holding any talks with the terrorist organisation, the TTP. We have no plans to hold these talks with TTP," said Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch.

Whenasked to respond to the Afghan deputy interior minister’s advice that Pakistan and TTP should resolve their issues through dialogue, the spokesperson said that Islamabad "expects theAfghan authorities to take action against these terror groups and their leadership for the crimes they are committing and terrorist attacks for which they are responsible in Pakistan".

The statement comes after a terror attack in Shangla claimed the lives of at least six people including five Chinese engineers, working on the Dasu Dam, last week.

Sources had told Geo News that the TTP-affiliated outfits are believed to be involved in the March 26 deadly attack.

Baloch further said that several measures were being considered and being debated regarding the terror attack, adding that Pakistan was in the process of completing various aspects of the investigation into the terrorist attack in Bisham.

The FO spokesperson highlighted that Pakistan would raise the concernwith the Afghan authorities if it finds a clear connection.

“There have been repeated incidents of terrorism inside Pakistan which have been sponsored by individuals who are currently based inside Afghanistan and we expect the Afghan authorities to take urgent, immediate action against all terror groups,” she added.

The spokesperson also responded tocriticism about Afghans being told to leave as Eid-ul-Fitr approaches, saying that Pakistan does not have aspecific Afghanistan related policy in terms of illegal foreigners in the country.

"Pakistan's position has been that individuals who are in Pakistan illegally, should return to their home country and that includes individuals from Afghanistan," said Baloch.

"We have also seen that over the last several months, a large number of Afghans have left for their home country voluntarily while a limited number of individuals were deported. As far as any new steps regarding repatriation of Afghan nationals is concerned, at this stage, I am not in a position to announce any new measures," she added.