Taliban offshoot ends Pakistan truce, orders attacks

Bloomberg

Pakistan’s junior foreign minister is in Kabul for talks with the Taliban regime a day after a local offshoot of the extremist group ended a ceasefire with the government in Islamabad and announced a resumption of attacks across the nation.
Hina Rabbani Khar will hold talks with the Afghan government on multiple issues, including security, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.
The visit follows an announcement by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan ending a monthslong agreement to pause violence and ordering its fighters to resume attacks. The ceasefire, brokered by the Taliban-run government in Afghanistan, had been in place since May this year.
With the Taliban in
control of neighbouring Afghanistan, Islamabad has been concerned that a spillover in terror activities could affect investments, including China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which has seen $25 billion poured into power plants and road projects. Pakistan has already faced pressure from Beijing which called on the government to protect such projects after a bus explosion in July last year killed 12 workers, including nine Chinese citizens.
The threat of escalating violence comes as the country is already facing political and economic crises. Former premier Imran Khan has been pressing for early elections and clashing publicly with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s administration and the powerful military. The government is still to fully assess how much it will spend this year to rebuild the country following the devastating floods this summer. The delay is also holding up a loan disbursal from the International Monetary Fund.