KABUL - Afghanistan continues to make progress in enhancing its stability as the drawdown continues for the international forces that have sought to bring security there for the past 12 years, said Jan Kubis, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan on Monday to the UN Council.

He told the Council that international support will be required through at least another decade for the ambitious security, political and economic transformations envisaged.

"We must resolutely continue working together to ensure a sovereign and sustainable State that will never again become a haven for international terrorism and organized crime, notably including narco-businesses. This is in everyone's interest," he stressed in his latest quarterly report.

"Security transition is proceeding as planned," he said of the largely United States-manned International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) with a current strength of nearly 85,000, which is to be withdrawn by the end of next year. "There has not been the catastrophic collapse in security some doomsayers had predicted."

"The Afghan army and the Afghan police are stepping up to the challenge. There are of course setbacks and casualty rates are of concern," Kubis said. He warned that the security challenges are real and should be proactively and realistically addressed to promote maximum inclusion and avoid any pretext for disenfranchisement or delay.

The U.S. wants the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) to be signed by the end of this year. The NATO mandate expires next year, and foreign forces must depart Afghanistan, leaving Afghan forces in charge.

But President Hamid Karzai has said he will leave the issue to his successor after April's presidential election, though a national assembly of 2,500 delegates known as the Loya Jirga has endorsed the deal.

Kubis noted the Loya Jirga's support for the agreement and warned the Security Council that "Predictability is critical to building confidence in the future."

Kubis said Afghanistan's neighbors have expressed concerns about "the potential for volatility post-2014 if there is a vacuum which could encourage the spread of al-Qaida-linked international terrorism."

He cited drug cultivation as another matter of "grave concern," noting that 2013 has been a record-setting year of poppy cultivation and production in Afghanistan, resulting in some 5,500 tons of opium, a threat to "the health, security and economic well-being not just of Afghanistan but also the region and wider international community."

Other issues of concern include the toll of the conflict on civilians with 2,730 deaths and 5,169 injuries reported to the end of November, a 10 per cent increase over the same period of 2012, the vast majority caused by armed opposition groups.

Corruption, impunity and lack of accountability are major drivers of violence, he added, noting that Afghanistan is currently ranked 175th of 177 countries on Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index. (Tolo News)