A delegation of 17 tribal elders and other representatives arrived in Kabul to continue negotiations with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The arrival of the delegation came as a group of prominent religious academics left after talks with the TTP leadership.
On Saturday, after meeting with the TTP leadership and the Afghan Taliban, the eight-member delegation of ulema, led by Mufti Taqi Usmani, returned from Afghanistan.
A local media reporting citing a source familiar with the ulema’s delegation, said that Usmani, who was regarded by both the Afghan Taliban and the TTP, was able to persuade the militant group that he had reviewed Pakistan’s Constitution and found nothing that could be interpreted as being against Islam.
The source claims that Usmani stated that even if the terrorist organization thought one or two clauses were un-Islamic, it was neither their mandate to modify them nor gave them any basis for using force against the state.
The source called it a significant breakthrough. Neither Usmani nor the TTP or the government made any official comments.
It also claimed that the terrorist group brought up the ex-Fata merger once more, but Usmani informed the TTP leadership that as a religious scholar, he could only address religious issues.
This was the group’s second visit to the Afghan capital to hold talks with the TTP leadership. The first delegation consisted of 58 members.
The TTP’s demand to reverse the ex-Fata merger into KP was not met during the first round, which one participant described to media as “cordial and at times tough”, but the two parties agreed to reconvene after further discussion.
An official delegation from Pakistan had direct talks with the TTP leadership in May. Afghan Taliban leadership requested an indefinite truce and the continuation of peace talks, and the two parties complied with their demands.
