Inclement weather in Peshawar due to a Western Disturbance did not let the helicopter carrying the tasked committees from both sides to reach north Waziristan, a Federally administered tribal area (FATA) in Pakistan. According to Prof. Ibrahim Khan from the committee nominated by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) from Peshawar said that the team could not fly into the tribal areas to meet the TTP shura as scheduled due to unfavourable weather conditions.
Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's Khaiber Pukhtoonkhaw (earlier known as Northwest Frontier Province) has recorded 47 mm of rain, while Dir a Taliban stronghold in the province has recorded more than 100 mm of rain since 23rd March, under the influence of the Western Disturbance.
However, the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India suggests that the talks could be organised soon as the Western Disturbance that affected the weather in the region has moved out while the other Western Disturbance which currently lies south of Waziristan will move in a northeastward direction sparing the region.
The peace process between Taliban and Pakistan government was stalled last month after a faction of the banned militant group killed 23 kidnapped Pakistani para-military soldiers, resulting in multiple targeted airstrikes by the military against militant hideouts in the tribal region of the northwest. The Taliban then announced a month-long ceasefire which was reciprocated by the government.
More than 40,000 people have been killed in last one decade due to insurgency led by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, the organisation which went awry from the clutches of Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence after it accused the intelligence agency of back stabbing innocent Pukhtoons by handing them over to the United States of America post 9/11.
Photograph by Shameel
