Violence may spike if peace talks not held: Yousuf Shah

ISLAMABAD: The coordinator of Taliban-appointed negotiation committee, Yousuf Shah has cautioned that there could be a surge in acts of violence in case peace negotiations were not held.

“The government committee doe not appear to be serious in holding the talks,” he said while talking to a British media outlet, adding, ‘the violent acts may witness a surge in case the dialogue was not held’.

He said the Taliban adhere to the commitment of announcing a ceasefire ‘but any progress would be made in this regard when we sit together’.

Yousuf Shah said if the government is not interested in meeting, then TTP-appointed committee does want it either. “If the government and Taliban committees remained at distance, it could lead to an increase in the acts of terror,” he cautioned.

But, he added that once a ceasefire is declared, then in his opinion no such incident would take place anywhere in the country.