Kabul hosted a conference for leaders and representatives of intelligence organizations from regional countries to discuss the insurgency, said Ahmad Zia Saraj, the head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) on Thursday. 

The “regional counter-terrorism conference” was held with the participation of the intelligence chiefs of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan and a CIA representative and discussed how to define the insurgency, Saraj said. 

Siraj said an agreement was reached to establish a unit to further coordinate counter-terrorism efforts. 

He mentioned that Iran’s intelligence representative did not attend the meeting for an “unclear reason.” 

The NDS in a statement said that the meeting was an effort of the Afghan government to attract the support of countries in the region and the world “for the legitimate fight of the country's defense and security forces against terrorism, and to build support for the peace talks led by legitimate Afghan institutions.” 

“At the meeting, they noted that the activities of the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the fight against terrorism are a step toward peace and stability in the region,” the statement said. 

It also said that the regional countries have understood the concerns of the Afghan government over the “increase of terrorist activities," adding that “to ensure internal and regional peace and stability, they supported the peace talks led by the Afghan government and stated that regional peace and stability goes through Afghanistan--a stable Afghanistan equals a stable region.” 

The statement said that regional countries have agreed on three key points: “there was a consensus on the definition of terrorism, common threats were identified, and action will be taken to eliminate them and accelerate the process of information exchange between intelligence services.” 

Regular meetings of these countries are scheduled to continue in the future.