Defense Minister Abdullah Habibi and Army Chief of Staff Qadam Shah Shahim addressed a press conference on Monday and said they had resigned on their own accord and no one had forced them to do so.

Habibi said he had tendered his resignation for the country’s “national interests”.

He said incidents of a security nature happen in other countries but he still felt he had no option but to step down.

Habibi went on to say that the war in Afghanistan “is a very different war today” but that the younger generation was strong. He said he believed they could tackle the problems.

Meanhile, Shahim said "we respect the concerns of the people of the country and MPs - it is important for us".

Shahim said no one had forced them to resign and some had even asked them to continue their duties but they made the decision themselves to resign.

Shahim also stated that results of an investigation into Friday’s deadly attack on the Afghan National Army’s 209 Shaheen Military Corps in Balkh would be made known to the public as soon as the probe had been wrapped up.

On Monday morning the Presidential Palace confirmed in a press release that Habibi and Shahim had resigned.

This comes in the wake of two major attacks against military installations in the past few week, including Friday’s incident.
 
The statement said the Ghani chaired a security meeting early Monday. In attendance was CEO Abdullah Abdullah, Mohammad Haneef Atmar, the national security adviser, defense minister and army chief of staff.

The statement said that at this meeting, discussions centered on the current situation in the country and on the reinforcement and development of security forces.

During the meeting, Habibi and Shahim tendered their resignation to the president.