PAKISTAN-The Pakistani government and a team nominated by the Taliban has begun formal meeting at an undisclosed location.

The meeting was aimed at charting a "roadmap" for peace talks.

It was gathered that the talks were delayed earlier in the week after the government side asked for clarification about the composition of the Pakistan Taliban team.

Since 2007, militants from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have been waging an insurgency inside Pakistan.

The talks initiative was announced last week by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, following a spate of attacks.

According to the leader of the government negotiation team, Irfan Siddiqui, the government committee would attend the talks with an open mind.

Other members of the government team are veteran journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai, former ambassador Rustam Shah Mohmand and a retired major from the ISI intelligence service, Amir Shah.

The three-man TTP team comprises Maulana Sami ul-Haq, known as the "Father of the Taliban", the chief cleric of Islamabad's Red Mosque, Maulana Abdul Aziz and the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami party, Ibrahim Khan.