KABUL - International troops would not intervene in security affairs of the regions that have been transitioned to Afghan forces, a top official in Afghan defense ministry said on Wednesday. Addressing a press conference Defense Ministry Spokesman Gen. Zaher Azimi said Afghan army has the necessary capacity and strength to ensure security in first handover regions.

Based on the first phase of security transition to Afghan security forces, seven areas including Kabul, Balkh, Bamyan, Lashkargah, Mehterlam, Mazar-e-Sharif, Herat and Ghazni provincial capitals have been handed over to Afghans over the past weeks.

International forces will only help conduct some joint military operations in the areas that have been handed over to Afghan forces, Gen. Zaher Azimi told reporters.

Despite security challenges facing poorly equipped and desertion-hit Afghan security forces, General Azimi insisted that the Afghan forces could carry the security burden on their own.

"We don't expect that security would be ensured in the areas by 100 percent, but Afghan forces will do everything they can to resolve security challenges on their own and there would be no kind of interference by foreign forces in the Afghan-controlled areas," he said.

In the past one week 109 Afghan soldiers lost their lives in hostilities which indicate a significant increase in army death toll compared to the same period last year, according to the statistics provided by the defense ministry.

Close to 620 militants have been detained nationwide in the past one week, the ministry said.