TOLOnews 16 August 2012

Top news in this Bulletin:

Launching a military operation against the Pakistani Taliban will create more problems for Afghanistan, Afghan military expert General Atiqullah Amarkhil told TOLOnews on Thursday.

"If Pakistan really wants to launch an operation against terrorist networks, it should include all terrorist groups, not only against Pakistani Taliban. Otherwise it will create more threats for Afghanistan," Amarkhil said.

Pakistani political expert Rahimullah Yousufzai told TOLOnews recently that Afghanistan and Pakistan governments are trying to hide their meeting with Mullah Ghani Bradar, who is currently in Pakistan's custody after being arrested in Karachi in 2009.

The alleged meeting between the Afghan delegation and Mullah Bradar was denied by the Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan, Mohammad Omar Dawoodzai, and Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik.

The Islamic Countries Cooperation Summit, held in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, has voiced support in favor of the Afghan peace negotiations with Taliban, deputy presidential spokesman Siyamak Hirawi told TOLOnews.

"The Afghan President said in the conference that effective cooperation eradicates violence from Islamic countries," Hiraw recounted, adding that the countries urged Pakistan to work together with Afghanistan.