BANNU / ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has said the government is ready for talks with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan to end the decade-old insurgency in the country.

Talking to newsmen at the Combined Military Hospital he visited to inquire after health of soldiers injured in Sunday’s bomb attack in the garrison area, he said the government wanted to hold talks with the Taliban but the process could not be started because the TTP leadership was abroad.

But he warned that the government’s willingness to hold talks with the TTP should not be construed as a sign of its weakness. The use of force was not a solution, he added.

Chaudhry Nisar said the blast inside the garrison was a major security lapse and the government had ordered an investigation.

He said the interior ministry and Frontier Corps, which had been fighting against militants in the tribal areas, were conducting separate investigations. He said action would be taken against officials found responsible for the lapse.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Engineer Shaukatullah and FC Commandant Maj Gen Ghayur Mehmood accompanied the interior minister.Officials said the death toll in the garrison blast rose to 23 after another three soldiers died in hospital. Several soldiers are still in critical condition.

Security has been beefed up in Bannu and roads leading to the cantonment have been sealed. Police and paramilitary forces have started checking vehicles and pedestrians.

Markets near the garrison area remained closed.

According to a statement issued in Islamabad by the interior ministry, Chaudhry Nisar said the “government would take necessary steps to ensure safety and security of each person in uniform”.

At a briefing at the Brigade Headquarters in Bannu, the minister said: “Pain of yesterday’s tragic incident was felt not just in Bannu or within the army but in all spheres of the government and in every nook and corner of the country.”

He said this was not a normal war “as we are fighting an unseen and hidden enemy”.

He said “our enemy operates from the shadows and not only takes refuge behind the sacred name of Islam but also misuses and distorts it”.

The minister said civil and military leadership of the country were on same page in meeting the challenge of militancy and violence. “Level of preparedness of our law enforcement agencies should be raised a notch higher and they must be two steps ahead of the militants.”