KABUL - Zalmai Rassoul, the Afghan Minister of Foreign Affairs, told the members of the United Nations (UN) that Afghanistan is ready for the peaceful withdrawal of foreign troops, but warned that terrorism will remain a constant threat for the country.

"Considering that 12 years is not a very long time in the history of a country, especially a country like Afghanistan, that has gone through more than 35 years of war and destruction, these achievements and gains are nothing short of a historic transformation," said Mr. Rassoul.

He said that the up gradation of the Afghan military and police is underway and they would soon be ready to witness the final withdrawal of foreign troops, which is scheduled to take place in 2014.

"It is our more than 350,000 brave and professional soldiers and police officers - not foreign soldiers - who are directly responsible for the security of more than 90 percent of the Afghan population," he said . "The transfer of security responsibilities from international forces to Afghan national security forces, which we launched in the summer of 2011, throughout the country will be complete by the end of 2014," said Mr. Rassoul.

"Our forces have demonstrated their courage, commitment and effectiveness in successfully taking over from their international partners," he added.

He emphasized that the government has been working on peaceful negotiations and reconciliation with the Taliban, but warned that terrorism and extremism remained a constant threat.

"We will not realize the full potential of our citizens or achieve true and lasting peace and security in Afghanistan or the wider region until we have dealt decisively against the brutality and evilness of the terrorists, who try to harm us every day. Fortunately, we are more hopeful now than in the past about gathering a common approach against terrorism and extremism in our region," he said.

There are around 100,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, out of which around 68,000 are Americans.

Foreign forces are scheduled to leave by the end of 2014 with the end of the NATO combat mission, after which time the Afghan security forces – currently numbering at around 300,000 men – will take over full security responsibility of the country.

Nevertheless, according to NATO and Afghan officials, the Afghan security forces have assumed the bulk of leadership on operations throughout the country already. (Tolo News)