United States has reportedly assured Pakistan that it won’t carry any drone strikes during talks with militants of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a close aide of Pakistan’s Prime Minister has said.

Islamabad, Nov 20/Nationalturk –  Pakistan Prime Minister’s Special Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz Wednesday claimed that United States has assured his country that it won’t carry any drone strikes during talks with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

“US has promised that it will not carry out any drone strikes in Pakistan during any peace talks with TTP militants in the future,” Aziz said during session of country’s Senate’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs in Islamabad.

However, he did not say when the US had given this assurance.

Aziz said US had been informed that talks with the TTP had been hampered after Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in the drone strike. “Pakistan had informed the US not to attack the Taliban during the dialogue process.”

He said when issue of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud‘s killing was raised with US officials,  they told Pakistan that he was already on their hit list.

‘Pakistan govt negotiators were prepared for talks with Mehsud’

“A team of Pakistan government negotiators was prepared to hold talks with former TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud on November 2, the day after he was killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan. Mehsud had been sent a list of negotiators, and he himself had added the names of two clerics to be part of the team,” Aziz said.

He said peace process had been on hold since Mehsud’s killing and negotiations were badly affected by November 1 drone strike.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had said last week that drone attack that killed Mehsud ‘sabotaged’ the government’s efforts to strike peace with TTP terrorists.

Mehsud was killed in US drone strike on Nov 1

On November 1, Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan Agency.

A remotely piloted US aircraft fired two missiles at a house in the Dandi Darpakhel area, one kilometre north of Miramshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan. Six suspected militants were killed and two others injured in the strike. Local tribesmen had identified the other victims as Hakimullah’s cousin Tariq Mehsud, his driver Abdullah Mehsud and his personal guards.

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Faiz Ahmad / NationalTurk Pakistan News