Afghanistan's Ghani rejects resignations of ministers, spy chief

Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani rejected on Sunday resignations tendered a day earlier by three senior security officials, the government said.

Afghanistan's ministers of defence and interior, as well as another security chief, quit on Saturday, government sources said, following the resignation of the president's national security adviser earlier in the day.

"We have received four resignations by two ministers and two senior security officials," an official in President Ashraf Ghani's office told Reuters.

Government spokesman Haroon Chakansuri said in a statement Ghani had asked the three officials to continue with their duties and "work towards the betterment of the security situation".

National security adviser Hanif Atmar's resignation was accepted by Ghani, presidential spokesman Haroon Chakhansuri told Reuters.

Two senior interior ministry officials said the security officials had cited policy differences with the government amid deteriorating security as the main reason for resigning.

However, Ghani rejected the resignations and instead instructed them to find ways to prevent fresh attacks by militant groups.