Taliban threatens to target PML-N leadership: Report

"We did not want innocent Pakistani people to suffer any more and therefore decided to hold negotiations with the government. But the government, by helping the US in the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud, proved that there was zero sincerity in the mind of the rulers. It was neither sincere nor serious in peace negotiations," the Taliban spokesman was quoted as saying by the report.

He warned the government would have to pay the price for, what he termed playing a double game with the TTP. Shahidullah said Hakimullah's killing was a "huge loss" to the Taliban, adding they would always feel his absence.

"We are passing through a difficult phase and are still in the state of mourning. And that's the reason we could not sit to choose his successor," he remarked.