According to intelligence officials in Pakistan and a senior militant commander government intermediaries have been holding talks with the Pakistani Taliban over the past few months.

"Yes, we have been holding talks but this is just an initial phase. We will see if there is breakthrough," a senior Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.

The revelations that Islamabad has been secretly holding peace talks with the militants may not go down well with Washington, which provides billions of dollars of aid to Pakistan to combat the Taliban and other extremist groups.

The US considers the TTP, which is allied with al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban who have been fighting against US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan, a terrorist organization. Both US and Afghan officials have repeatedly accused the Pakistani government, particularly its spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, of backing the Taliban militants and playing a "double-game." Pakistan denies these allegations.

The US government has also continually pressed Pakistan to act against Taliban militants in the country's restive northwestern tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan, including the recalcitrant South and North Waziristan.

'No choice but to fight'

The Taliban commander quoted by Reuters said the TTP did not want to fight Pakistan's security forces but only wanted to "rid Afghanistan of foreign forces."

"The Pakistani government, by supporting America, has left us no choice but to fight," he added.

He also said that the TTP had a series of demands, including the release of its imprisoned members. “Right now, this is at the South Waziristan level. If successful, we can talk about a deal for all the tribal areas," he said.

'Very difficult stage'

An ethnic Pashtun tribal elder involved in the talks told Reuters said they had reached a "very difficult stage."

"We have had three rounds in the last two months, but there seems to be no result. It is too difficult to say if there will be a breakthrough, but we are moving in the right direction," he added."

Last month, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani spelled out his government's terms for talks with militants. "We will not ask them to disarm before the negotiations since this is against the tribal culture. However, the political agents (government administrators in the tribal regions) will ask them to decommission themselves," he told the media.

Islamabad's past peace deals with the Taliban have not been successful and only gave the militants time for regrouping and consolidating their power.

Author: Shamil Shams (Reuters, AP)
Editor: Anne Thomas