Islamabad , Pakistan ( CNN ) -- The Pakistani Taliban have declared a cease-fire in South Waziristan , one of the seven semi-autonomous tribal areas in northwest Pakistan , three Taliban commanders told CNN Tuesday . The cease-fire -- agreed a month ago -- follows back-channel peace talks that have been taking place between intermediaries representing the Pakistani government and the Pakistani Taliban , the commanders said . The commanders , speaking under condition of anonymity , said the talks were preliminary and began in late September , focusing only on South Waziristan . The group has demanded an exchange of prisoners , the withdrawal of Pakistani troops from South Waziristan and compensation for the victims of army operations in the area , which borders Afghanistan , the Taliban commanders told CNN . The Pakistani Taliban has made preliminary contacts with the government through local tribal elders to explore the possibilities of a peace deal , the commanders said . South Waziristan is believed to be the headquarters of the Pakistani Taliban leadership . The outcome of the purported back-channel talks is not yet known -- and senior figures in the country 's government and military have denied they are going on . The official spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban , a group that has not always spoken with one voice , categorically denied the commanders ' claims . `` We are not against Pakistan . We are against the U.S. and its allies , '' spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan said . `` Once Pakistan stops acting as an ally of America , only then will we be open to peace talks with the Pakistani government . '' Pakistan 's interior minister denied the government is actively in talks with any faction of the Pakistani Taliban . `` The Taliban have been trying to contact us ; however , we will not engage in peace talks with them until they give up their arms , '' Interior Minister Rehman Malik told CNN . Malik said the message the Pakistani government has sent to the Taliban is : `` Give up your arms and then we will talk . '' The Pakistan military dismissed the reports of ongoing peace talks as `` concocted and baseless . '' Commander Asif Yasin Malik , a military spokesman , told reporters in Mingora , in Pakistan 's northwestern Swat district : `` We are not talking to the Taliban . This is the government 's job , not ours . '' Both the Taliban and the Pakistani government would consider any talks highly sensitive because of the risk of being perceived as abandoning their cause and appeasing the enemy . Both sides have set conditions for talks and neither wants to be seen as the side that abandons its conditions . This may explain why the two sides are denying talks are taking place and apparently using go-betweens instead of meeting directly . The Pakistani government faces the added risk of upsetting the United States , since Washington has long pressed Pakistan to get more aggressive with violent extremists along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border . The United States expressed serious concern after Pakistan 's short-lived peace deal with the Pakistani Taliban in 2008 . Founded by Baitullah Mehsud in 2007 , the Pakistani Taliban is a banned Islamist group said to have links with the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda . Since its inception , the group has focused its attacks on military forces and installations as well as civilian targets in the region . Journalists Saboor Khattak and Nasir Habib contributed to this report .
NEW : Pakistani Taliban leaders say a cease - fire was declared in South Waziristan . They say talks focus on South Asia and include a demand for troop withdrawal . The Pakistani Taliban 's official spokesman denies talks are taking place . The Pakistani government and military also say reports of talks are baseless .