Pakistan militants welcome peace talks TALIBAN-LINKED militants in Pakistan have welcomed a new peace talks offer by the government. "We welcome it ... it is possible," said Maulana Asmatullah Moavia, the head of a Taliban faction from the central Punjab province, in a statement issued from their tribal base near the Afghan border. It came days after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif offered to hold peace talks with the militants to end a decade-old violence that claimed more than 40,000 lives and crippled the economy. "I invite to dialogue all those elements who unfortunately follow the path of extremism," Sharif said this week, in his first televised address to the nation since taking office in June. Sharif said Islamist militants pose an "existential threat" to Pakistan and he would order the use of force if his offer was rejected. The militant group said the premier had demonstrated political maturity by offering peace talks to the Taliban. Punjabi Taliban, as the group is known, has been behind most deadly attacks across Pakistan in recent years. It has strong links to al-Qaeda and is considered a major faction in the Pakistani Taliban group led by Hakimullah Mehsud. Moavia said militants in Pakistan should respond positively if the government was serious about resolving the conflict. Past peace talks between the Pakistan government and militants have failed.