ISLAMABAD:
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has formally requested the Afghan ambassador to facilitate talks with the banned TTP, a source within the provincial government informed The Express Tribune Peshawar office.
Following repeated directives from PTI’s jailed leader Imran Khan, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, accompanied by senior grand jirga member Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, visited the Afghan High Commission in Islamabad on Friday evening.
At the outset, the chief minister offered condolences to Afghan Ambassador Ahmad Shukab and assured further assistance for the bereaved families in Kunar after the recent earthquake deaths.
The two sides also discussed the repatriation of Afghan refugees, assurances against forced deportations, and the security situation in the province.
Ambassador Shukab praised the timely response of the K-P government and acknowledged its cooperation on the issue of Afghan refugees.
Gandapur briefed the envoy on the law and order situation in K-P and proposed forming a jirga to hold talks with the banned TTP in Kabul or elsewhere in Afghanistan, the source confirmed.
The Afghan ambassador assured that he would convey the chief minister’s request to the Afghan central command, adding that the meeting’s modalities would be finalised, the source added.
