Taliban ends ceasefire with Pakistani government, orders new attacks across country
PBS NewsHourMAY 2023
Jihadists and peace don’t co-exist. The ceasefire was supposed to halt the violence — it didn’t. It did, however, bring a nuclear state to its knees, which is unsurprising given that Pakistan negotiated with terrorists who want nothing else other than to see the destruction of a country they regard as fundamentally un-Islamic. Now, the government must make some harsh decisions before the country becomes a war-torn wasteland.
Although the likelihood of a sustainable ceasefire with the TTP is slim — as evidenced by this latest development —Islamabad entered the agreement with no option other than to negotiate. While the TTP may be separate from the Afghan Taliban — a longstanding ally of Pakistan — they're two faces of the same coin. Needing to fortify ties with its neighboring country, Islamabad made the best it could out of an impossible situation.