KABUL - Bismillah Mohammadi, the Minister of Defense; Mujtaba Patang, the acting Interior Minister; and General Joseph Dunford, the Commander of the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan gathered together for a meeting in Kabul on Saturday to review Afghanistan's security situation over the past five months.

Although the media were not allowed entrance into the meeting or an opportunity to speak with all of its participants afterward, Mr. Mohammadi did offer some comments to reporters prior to the start of the gathering.

When asked about what he would say in the meeting and what its focus would be, Mr. Mohammadi highlighted the fact that the Afghan forces have succeeded in thwarting major terror threats across the country. However, he said the influence he believed Pakistani intelligence entities were having on the provocation of Taliban insurgents and their plans to disrupt the 2014 elections was very worrying.

"The Taliban does not have the capacity to fight the Afghan forces, hence they are using roadside bombs to launch their attacks," Mr. Mohammadi said in response to a question about the threat posed to security forces by the insurgents.

Mr. Mohammadi applauded security forces' efforts in recent clearing operations.

"For over three months insurgents have been trying to launch attacks across the country. However, the Afghan forces were always ready to foil their attempts. The "Simorgh" operation that was launched in the Hesarak district of Nangarhar and Dubandi and Azra districts of Logar province successfully captured the insurgents," added Mr. Mohammadi.

Mr. Mohammadi's comments referred to a high-profile operation that was announced over a week ago in which the Afghan forces successfully cleared districts of embattled Nangarhar and Logar provinces of entrenched insurgents. The operation reportedly resulted in the deaths of more than 200 insurgents, many of who were identified as Pakistani nationals. The Azra district is said to have been completely cleared of insurgents.

Mr. Mohammadi took the opportunity before the meeting began on Friday to thank the residents of the affected districts for their cooperation and help while the Afghan forces were carrying out the operation. He stressed that without the help of the residents, the operation would not have been successful.

Foreign troops in Afghanistan are scheduled to leave by the end of next year, after this, the Afghan security forces will take over full security responsibility of the country.

However, according to International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) officials, the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) are planning and executing the majority of operations in the country already. Lieutenant General Mark Milley, Commander of the ISAF Joint Command, recently told the media that 80% of the 30 million person Afghan population is secured by the ANSF at the moment.

There are around 66,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan helping over 300,000 Afghan security forces fight insurgency currently. NATO plans to maintain a slimmed-down training and advisory mission in Afghanistan following the official withdraw in 2014. (Tolo News)