Imran rejects talks again as Nawaz remains defiant

Imran Khan on Wednesday called off talks with the Nawaz Sharif government, once again, and also announced that he would continue his sit-in in front of parliament house till Sharif tendered his resignation. 'We will not go away. We will not leave this place,' he said.

Imran Khan on Wednesday called off talks with the Nawaz Sharif government, once again, and also announced that he would continue his sit-in in front of parliament house till Sharif tendered his resignation. “We will not go away. We will not leave this place,” he said.

Khan also told his supporters that he was offered the position of deputy prime minister by Sharif so that his party would end the protest. “I rejected this offer as I am only interested in justice.”

Read:Imran's party lawmakers resign from Punjab assembly

In another major development, lawmakers of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf resigned from the Punjab province assembly.

Of the 31 PTI members, 29 submitted their resignations on the direction of Khan who said his party men would not sit in the assemblies which are the product of massive rigging.

However, the party is yet to decide whether its members will resign from the Kyber Pakhtaunkhawa Assembly. Khan has said he would quit the Kyber Pakhtaunkhawa government after consulting his party allies.

In other development, a new bloc of the Pakistani Taliban has vowed to carry on the movement’s campaign of bombings and shootings, in the militants’ first video message since a major army assault on their strongholds.

Senior commanders announced the creation of a new hardline grouping within the umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) but insisted they were not splitting from the movement.

The Pakistani military has been waging a major assault on TTP bases in North Waziristan tribal area since mid-June.