KABUL - President Karzai met the visiting French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Monday in Kabul and discussed the security situation in Afghanistan.

The officials also discussed the peace process and relations between the two countries after 2014, the President's Office said in a statement late Monday.

The French defense minister is also scheduled to meet the non-combat French troops in Afghanistan for New Year's.

Le Drian's visit comes as the last batch of 200 French combat forces left Afghanistan last month, a full two years before ISAF's combat mission is scheduled to end.

France has around 1,500 soldiers left in Afghanistan, the vast majority in Kabul. They are due to stay into 2013 to take responsibility for repatriating equipment and training the Afghan army. (Tolo News)