"The senior leadership of the Taliban advises all subgroups to respect the Taliban's call for a ceasefire and abide by it and completely refrain from all activities in this time period," the Pakistani Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said on Saturday.

The unilateral ceasefire comes after attempts to hold peace talks between the militants and government collapsed.

The talks broke down last month, after Taliban-linked militants killed 23 soldiers they were holding.

This triggered air strikes by the Pakistani military against militant hideouts in the north-west.

In recent weeks the Pakistan air force has bombed militant targets in the northwest, and there is speculation that the army will launch an offensive in North Waziristan, a tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

RA/MB