ISLAMABAD: The government will continue to pursue dialogue with the Taliban and believes that the deadly attacks which followed the talks offer were sponsored by hostile external elements who wanted to sabotage the initiative.

“Despite the setbacks, dialogue will be pursued,” Adviser on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz told reporters here on Thursday after meeting British Senior Minister of State at Foreign and Commonwealth Office Baroness Sayeeda Warsi.

He said “hostile elements from across the border may be providing support to some groups” to prevent the talks from taking off.

Mr Aziz said the government had “indirect evidence” of external support for the terrorist groups carrying out the attacks.

An all-party conference on Sept 9 had endorsed government plans for holding dialogue with militant groups for ending violence in the country that has claimed over 40,000 lives.

Barely a week after the talks offer had been made, militants attacked a military convoy, killing General Officer Commanding Gen Sanaullah Khan and two other army personnel in Swat. This was followed by three other major attacks in Peshawar in which close to 150 people were killed.

The attacks were initially claimed by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) affiliates and its Swat chapter even released a video of the attack on Gen Sanaullah’s convoy. However, the militant group later renounced the claims of responsibility for the attacks amid growing criticism of the dialogue offer.

Defending the offer, Mr Aziz suggested that militancy was “a protest” by those opposed to the country’s involvement in America’s ‘war on terror’.

Terrorism in Pakistan, he said, was a result of “global fault lines”.

“The people funded and trained by the US to fight Soviet Union” had come back to unleash violence here, he said.

The TTP, which had initially asked for release of all of its detained fighters and return of the army from the tribal areas, has now linked the proposed dialogue to an end to US drone strikes.

Mr Aziz, responding to the demand, said the government’s strategy was to increase pressure on the US at international forums and through diplomatic channels to persuade it to stop the drone attacks.

He also cautioned the detractors against prejudging the process.

“The process has just begun. One should not prejudge its outcome.”

Ms Warsi, who was here for discussions on increasing Pakistan-UK trade, stayed short of endorsing the dialogue initiative.

But while replying to a question she said: “Any dialogue that leads to peaceful existence for Pakistanis is welcome.”

She said extremists were the “biggest enemies of Islam and Pakistan” as they “were taking away hope” from Pakistanis and Muslims.

According to AFP, Mr Aziz said: “Despite these incidents the dialogue option should be pursued because the Taliban are many groups and many of them have said they do want to pursue dialogue.

“There are some elements who want to disrupt the dialogue but the whole purpose of the dialogue is to put an end to such incidents.”