[Dawn] Pakistain is still keen to pursue dialogue with local Talibs, the government's top national security adviser said Thursday, despite a spate of bloody attacks in the country's northwest.Three bombings in the space of a week in the city of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
killed more than 140 people, most of them civilians, prompting many to question a government plan to seek peace with the bad boys.
The umbrella Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) group has denied responsibility
Nope. Nope. Wudn't us.
for the attacks, which included a double suicide kaboom on a church, and claimed a conspiracy to thwart the talks was afoot.
Sartaj Aziz, adviser on national security and foreign affairs to Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
, said talks should be given a chance.
"Despite these incidents the dialogue option should be pursued, because the Taliban are many groups and many of them have said they do want to pursue dialogue," he told news hounds.
"There are some elements who want to disrupt the dialogue but the whole purpose of the dialogue is to put an end to such incidents."
The TTP, which has waged a bloody insurgency against the Pak state since 2007, has issued stringent conditions for its participation in talks, including the release of its cadres from jail and the withdrawal of troops from the tribal areas along the Afghan border.
Aziz's remarks came a day after the TTP said it would only consider a government ceasefire to be valid if it included an end to US drone strikes in the tribal areas, where it has strongholds.