Pakistan Taliban: Truce over but talks continue

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Pakistani Taliban says it will not renew a ceasefire it called to facilitate peace negotiations with the government but says talks will continue.

In a statement emailed Wednesday to reporters, the organization's spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said the governing council of the militant group had decided unanimously to drop the ceasefire.

The group announced a one-month ceasefire on March 1 and then extended it for ten days. This is the group's first comment since the ceasefire expired last Thursday.

The spokesman blamed the government, saying it was still continuing operations against militants during the ceasefire. But he said the talks would continue in "complete sincerity."

Militants in Pakistan's northwest have been battling the government for years with thousands of troops and civilians dying in bombings and shootings.