Islamabad: The Taliban in Pakistan has announced a ceasefire ahead of the Feb 18 Parliament polls, saying no attacks will be carried out on any election facility or rally.

"We announce ceasefire in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and tribal areas during elections," an organisation named 'Taliban Ittehad' or Taliban Alliance said in a message released to the media. The message signed by Maulvi Umer of the Taliban Alliance said that from South Waziristan to Swat in NWFP they will not attack any people or election facility.

Pakistan is going to polls on Monday to elect members for the national and provincial legislatures, including in tribal areas. However, the Election Commission has announced postponement of polls in South Waziristan, where Taliban are active. The tribal areas have 12 seats in the 342-member National Assembly or the lower house of Parliament.

As many as 272 members are directly elected while 60 seats are reserved for women and 10 for non-Muslims that are divided among the winning parties on the proportional representation basis. Maulvi Umer said the organisation had instructed its men to stop all "sorts of activities until the election". He said that this decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Taliban commander Baitulallah Mehsood.

He, however, said they were "neither against nor in favour of elections". He denied media reports that Taliban were planning to attack polling offices and booths on the election day. "We can assure all that we don't have any such plans," said the statement.

Source : IANS