Tribal militants in North Waziristan said on Monday that the government's response to their month-long unilateral ceasefire had been "unsatisfactory", and urged it to step up its efforts to make the offer sustainable. Abdullah Farhad, the purported spokesman for the tribal Taliban in North Waziristan, said that the government's response during the first 15 days of the ceasefire had been "below our expectation"."Yes, some tribesmen arrested during military operations were released. But nothing substantial has occurred since then," he told Daily Times via phone from an undisclosed location. "We want the government to recover its tempo."
He said that the government should remove all check posts in the agency within the next 15 days and release the remaining tribesmen.
The Taliban's "dissatisfaction" coincides with a bomb attack on a military convoy in Mir Ali, in which no one was injured. Farhad denied Taliban involvement in the incident. Troops retaliated to the blast by opening fire, killing a seminary student and injuring two, an official said.