Taliban ceasefire to continue till April 10

The Taliban on Friday announced a ten-day extension to its March ceasefire in response to the release of 16 Taliban prisoners on Thursday. "The Tehrik e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) - an umbrella organization of various Islamist militant groups based in Pakistan - has decided to extend the ceasefire by April 10. All the TTP affiliated groups have been directed to abide by the directives till further orders" TTP spokesman, Shahidullah Shahid, said in a statement. The TTP had announced a month long ceasefire on March 1 as a goodwill gesture in connection with ongoing peace talks which aim to end 11 years long militancy in the country.

Shahid said that TTP will meet on April 10 again to chalk out the further strategy as the Taliban were still waiting for "good news" from the government in regard to their demands about release of prisoners and establishment of a safe zone for holding peace talks.