ISLAMABAD – A member of the Pakistani government committee tasked with negotiating with the Taliban says they have cancelled a scheduled round of talks after claims by militants that they killed 23 soldiers in their captivity.
Irfan Sadiqui said in a statement Monday that there is no point meeting the Taliban's representatives after the killings.
A faction of the Pakistani Taliban announced late Sunday that they had killed the soldiers, who they said had been kidnapped in 2010.
The militants have said they will release a video.
The Pakistani government is trying to negotiate an end to the years of fighting in the country's northwest.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the killings and said they would have a negative effect on the negotiations.